Where Giants Fall — v0.70: Raise the Cairn

v0.70 gives you new ways to earn your collection, shape your next run and turn movement into devastating attacks.

The showcase above offers a quick look at weapons and active abilities in action. Read on for the changes behind the combat and a closer look at the new menus.

Titanward joins the arsenal as a shield weapon built around Dash, while several familiar weapons gain entirely new combat identities. Between runs, challenges unlock content immediately and Essence builds the Cairn. Within a run, Altars of Peril make raising the stakes an encounter of its own.

The Journey also has a new fixed route, and the world, boss warnings and menus have received a broad refresh. These notes describe the development update completed on 4 October 2026. Where Giants Fall remains in development; this update does not announce a new downloadable build.

Screenshots captured in the development build on 5 October 2026. Select an image to view it at full size.

Major Highlights

• Titanward: land a shield Dash, release a Counterwave, then build toward Worldbreaker.
• Earn your collection: 45 challenges grant weapons, abilities, heroes and items outright. Fifteen separate in-game achievements test your hardest feats.
• Raise the Cairn: spend Essence on 34 stones for starting resources, draft choices and optional stat bonuses.
• Choose your Peril: invoke an altar, survive its sealed swarm arena and carry the extra danger and rewards forward.
• A new Journey rhythm: Regular → Ritual Siege → Morvessa → Regular → Phalanx → Endless.
• Weapons with stronger identities: directional Machine Gun belts, ricocheting Shuriken, spreading plague, a living Demonlash and racing glacial fronts.
• A clearer battlefield: more precise boss warnings, readable loot beams, matching objective markers and a complete painted-menu refresh.

Earn your collection

Every locked weapon, ability, hero and item now has a challenge. Complete it and the reward joins your collection immediately. Essence no longer buys content.

There are 45 unlock challenges across Entry, Advanced, Mastery and Prestige tiers. Goals include defeating Phalanx without taking a Wall of Death hit, catching 100 enemies in one Void Pull, reaching 300 kills in one Warpath and winning a Ritual Siege without a single sacrifice. Unlocks records your progress or best attempt and the run that earned the reward. Notices show what you achieved without stopping combat.

Your starting collection includes:

• Heroes: Rambo and Gemma. Moland, Nirvana and Rinoa are earned through challenges.
• Weapons: Chain Lightning, Golden Gun, Ancient Spirits, Titanward and Ironhail Rockets.
• Active abilities: Dragon Breath, Earthspikes, Skybreaker, Void Pull and Rejuvenation.
• Items: the starter collection, with further items earned through play.

Aeris, Anna, Boris, Cipher, Dante and Natasja have left the playable roster. Existing players keep their unlocked collection, including former starters.

The separate Achievements tab contains 15 demanding feats, with no content reward attached. They include felling six giants during one Giants Answer and defeating the Iron Tyrant after awakening it at full Giant Power. One achievement stays hidden until you own its two required items. Challenges and achievements pay Essence bounties of 25 / 60 / 120 / 250, according to tier. These are currently in-game feats, rather than Steam achievements.

Raise the Cairn

Essence now raises stones at the Cairn on the main menu. Invest in starting reroll tokens, gold, free wheel spins, Forsake allowances, a fourth Giant Remnant reward choice and better early chests. Further stones open at Account Ranks 4 and 8.

Account Rank opens opportunities instead of granting stats directly. Four optional stones provide those bonuses:

• Whetstone: up to +5% damage.
• Heartstone: up to +5% Max HP.
• Lorestone: up to +10% XP.
• Touchstone: up to +10% gold.

Income stones open at Rank 1 and combat stones at Rank 8. Later levels require higher ranks, up to Rank 18. The board has 34 stones. You keep your Essence, Account Rank and raised stones. From Rank 8, spare Essence can be offered as Tribute toward rank, up to Rank 21. Cairn Effects lets you play without stone bonuses while keeping your progress.

Item drafts gain Reroll, spending a token for three new choices; each run grants a token at hero level 4. The Forsake stone lets you remove a chosen item from that run’s chests, drafts and shops. Weapon level-up drafts no longer offer either button.

Essence rewards now recognise your risk and giant kills: invoked altars add 3% each, up to 30%; Endless giants pay 25 Essence, and an Orb Magnet Ashen Colossus pays 40. A run ending on stage 1 below hero level 5 no longer pays the base 20 Essence.

The Journey and Peril

The Journey follows Regular → Ritual Siege → Morvessa → Regular → Phalanx → Endless. Each Regular and Ritual stage offers three biome choices. The Elder Mire is reserved for Ritual stages and Morvessa; Phalanx fights in Jadefall Spires, and Redstone Expanse is exclusive to Endless.

Each new stage restores health and readies active abilities, reserve abilities, weapon Ultimates, Power Charges and item cooldowns. Poison, burns, stuns and the previous fight’s Crimson Pact drain clear. Earned item progress, Arcane Surge charge, wards, active buffs and temporary Max HP carry forward. Blood Price keeps its 39% health restriction, and Shield is not refilled.

Altars of Peril replace Pressure Nodes. Regular stages offer three; the Ritual offers two. Each invocation adds 20 lasting Journey Peril, up to 200, strengthening later enemies and improving rewards. Pact of Peril requires all three Regular-stage altars before 2:00.

Invoking an altar opens a towering dark gateway and seals a 50-metre arena. Defeat the emerging Bone Shambler or Mime Lady swarm after it finishes spawning to earn a guaranteed chest with better Rare, Epic and Legendary odds. You can attack through the seal, but you cannot move or Blink through it.

The base horde is smaller, with enemy numbers rising as you invoke altars. At Peril 200, numbers are 50% higher. Major enemies have less base health and gain Peril health more slowly. Each altar adds 9% XP/gold and 3% loot opportunity before milestones, with stronger reward premiums and chest milestones along the way.

Journey cards compare Threat, Enemy Health, Enemy Damage, Enemy Numbers and Elites & Giants using Low-to-Extreme ratings. Boss cards show Boss Health and Boss Damage. Ratings account for stage depth and current Peril; the HUD’s remappable P / R3 action opens exact modifiers and milestones.

Endless begins at Peril 200. Every 40 active seconds adds 20 Peril and a Bone Shambler Surge, continuing beyond the Journey limit. The first Surge arrives after that opening interval. Automatic Surges grant no altar chest. Endless world giants have half their previous base health, and bosses arrive at twice the previous interval.

Rituals and Trials

Every enemy reaching the dormant giant now adds Giant Power. Killing a Ritual elite before it arrives always weakens the giant. Sacrificed enemies give no XP, gold, buffs, loot, Warpath progress or kill credit. Champions begin farther away and must reach the giant to sacrifice; their distance is easier to read. Elites and Champions move more slowly, Wardens have less health, and a Warden’s death produces a dark implosion and a visible pull at the Ritual Site. Channelling cultists remain in their circles.

More weapon Ultimates and direct area attacks can destroy Ritual anchors, including Manaburst at full damage, Titanfall, Earthspikes, Void Pull and several weapon bursts. Direct Plague Spitter and Virulent Torrent poison works too. General spreading ailments, echoes and item effects still skip anchors. Enemy attacks cannot destroy them, and rewards count only anchors you break. Damage numbers distinguish weapons, poison, criticals and Ultimates.

Each Regular stage offers four different Trials, chosen from Echoes, Follow the Lights, Soul Chase, Slayer and Swarm. Ritual stages have a separate Trial of Ascension. Objectives appear on entry, recent attempts reduce repeats, and only one Trial runs at once. Returning from a Trial resumes the surrounding battle; its reward appears after any open ability draft.

• Trial of Ascension: fly through eight descending rune rings with previews of the next two. Faster flight, stronger analog steering and a shorter launch improve the course. A missed ring stays active and offers a rescue updraft. Aerial Power Rush costs no charges and adds no lift. Success is secured at the final ring, and the shockwave erupts on the return flight, pushing enemies toward the rim. The lasting 50% Ritual-enemy slow remains; Giant Power stops growing during flight, and Ritual rewards use its value at awakening.
• Trial of Echoes: replaces the Anchor Trial. Defeat three giant Echoes within 60 seconds. Each draws a different boss spell and formation while the surrounding battle stays frozen.
• Follow the Lights: flowing loops, spirals and outer circuits replace backtracking. Ground arrows guide longer Rush lines, with two shortcut-versus-detour choices, unlimited Power Charges and a 24-second timer.
• Soul Chase: pursue a closer Loot Goblin quarry with a purple tracking arrow and continuous terrain-aware movement. Catching it pays the Trial reward, rather than goblin loot.
• Slayer: thralls form pinwheel arms, clusters or staggered crescents.
• Swarm: survive 15 seconds in a sealed 25-metre arena. Hunters stream through yellow portals, are extremely tough and grant no kill rewards. Defeat ends the Trial instead of the run; every outcome restores your entry health.

The arsenal rebuilt

The collection now contains 14 weapons and 14 active abilities. Browse the full arsenal for current level-by-level tracks, including the new names and effects.

Titanward

Dash with your shield, then release a directional Counterwave. Shield and banked Power Charges strengthen it, and a lone target can take up to triple damage. A Dash begun at full charges rewards patience. Unbroken March restores Power Charges and builds toward a once-per-March Worldbreaker.

Siege Drive turns a grounded Power Rush into a ram: the first enemy stops your Rush and receives a stronger, farther-reaching Counterwave. A long run-up adds weight. A Rush begun in the air can ram after landing. Additional Projectiles shorten Dash cooldown rather than adding waves or charges. The shield, pressure wave, furrows and sound now make each impact easier to follow.

Belts, batteries and precision

• Machine Gun becomes a directional weapon. A 28-round belt sprays physical rounds where you face for 2.8 seconds at base speed, followed by a 1.45-second reload; you can keep moving. Upgrades tighten sustained fire, add feed rounds, shred armour and accelerate the belt’s final third. Unleash Hell replaces Bullet Frenzy with five seconds of faster, reload-free fire, wild storm rounds and piercing white-hot Overcharge spikes. The slot shows belt and reload progress, and new shots, outdoor echoes and reload sounds follow the firing rhythm.
• Ironhail Rockets becomes an artillery battery. Twin rockets grow into four-shell salvos and a heavy Hammer Round. Escalating Salvo strengthens later shells; Shaped Charges concentrates the blast, and Hammer pressure briefly Shellshocks survivors. Saturation Bombardment aims ahead along your facing, empties a 36-rocket battery, grows to 48 with Full Arsenal and finishes with one Bunker Buster. Rolling Thunder adds a second, smaller battery.
• Golden Gun gains molten bolts, fading shot threads and stronger sequence-round feedback. Golden Verdict deals four times ordinary shot damage per blast, or five times with Magnum Verdict. Its base reach is 22 metres, rising to 26.4 with Long Arm of Judgment; its cone width is unchanged.

Base reach is now 20 m for Machine Gun, 22 m for Ironhail Rockets, 16 m for Plague Spitter, 18 m for Razor Shuriken and Astral Fangs, and 13 m for Chain Lightning.

Ricochets, infection and bloodletting

• Razor Shuriken replaces bleed, piercing and splitting with accelerating ricochets. A base blade cuts three enemies; added blades choose separate victims, and isolated bosses can receive another banked cut. Perfect Rebounds intensify the strike. Shuriken Tempest launches persistent blades for five seconds; Rebound Circuit retraces victims and Razor Grid leaves cutting wakes.
• Plague Spitter becomes an epidemic. Infected deaths send spores to new hosts, and stacked Poison ticks faster, reaching four ticks per second at five stacks. It no longer slows enemies. Virulent Torrent replaces Terminal Strain with a three-second steerable stream that Poisons and Saturates, building faster against fewer targets. Masteries spread disease beyond the stream and rupture drenched enemies. Supercarrier and Virulent Deluge reshape the infection, with acid-green damage ticks and a bubbling flood.
• Demonlash becomes a living demonic whip that cracks through everything ahead, then recoils. Upgrades add lashes, stronger tips and escalating damage from earlier hits. Maw of Ruin releases accelerating lashes from a rift, with a heavy final strike and closing jaws. Threefold Damnation splits a final crack; Abyssal Reckoning condenses the Ultimate into one colossal sweep. The old rear strike, knockback and lifesteal upgrade are gone.
• Crimson Reavers deepens bloodletting. Axes briefly lodge, tear existing wounds and spray through victims. Sequential throws seek fresh targets. Bloodburst grows with Bleed stacks, and Open Arteries ruptures a newly full wound. Crimson Guillotine gathers, bites, holds and bursts; Carved for Death makes follow-up axes tear Condemned wounds. Endless Reaping sends a blood-forged axe through a fully bleeding victim, while Blood Moon draws wounds toward the impact.

Guardians, frost and arcane force

• Ancient Spirits now spends each guardian on an impact burst, terrifies nearby enemies, then reforms. Burst kills hasten its return, Ancestral Recall instantly reforms every fourth consumed spirit, and later upgrades enlarge the defensive host. Spirit Wake survives the guardian that drew it; Grand Procession opens Ancestral Host with ten outward-launched guardians. Compact spirits and fading trails keep enemies visible.
• Astral Fangs pursues moving prey along curved paths. Starfang Tempest keeps chasing beyond its initial acquisition reach and redirects when prey dies; Grand Fangfall uses broader diving arcs. Ultimate fangs are only slightly larger, with damage and flurry rhythm unchanged.
• Frostwave becomes a fast glacial shockfront. Simultaneous extra fronts build Rime, shatter frozen enemies, grow as they travel and unleash every-third-cast Whiteouts. Glacial Cataclysm is one colossal front dealing 1000% damage, culminating in Cathedral of Ice. Frost and shattered ice remain visible over snow, dark ground and tall grass.
• Manaburst becomes an unstable arcane reactor. A gathering cast releases a ground-hugging shockfront; Arcane Echo adds a second pulse, Compression Core strengthens the centre and Resonant Surge Overcharges the next cast after a large crowd hit. Momentum Echo brings the next cast sooner, and Mana Rupture detonates slain enemies. Singularity spirals and pulls the horde inward before one Final Collapse, strengthened by Event Horizon. Its pulses can critically strike.
• Fireball now splashes flame, visibly ignites victims and burns out. Backdraft erupts in a fireball blast; Sunfall scorches a track and leaves its impact burning briefly.

Active abilities and the Giantforge

Dragon Breath is a moving stream of fire, smoke and embers that hits as the flame reaches enemies. Every hit burns for 25% of its damage over 2.5 seconds. White Flame, its Level VIII Legendary, replaces Dragon’s Reckoning: partway through the channel, the stream turns white-hot, reaches 40% farther and deals double damage. Scorched Earth follows the longer line, and Furnace Pressure erupts in fireball combustions.

Frost Nova sends out a racing frost ring that freezes on arrival, encases enemies in crystals and shatters into shards and mini-novas. Absolute Zero becomes a swirling blizzard. Void Pull shows its full reach through void threads and debris accelerating into the core, while keeping enemies readable.

The Giantforge gains permanent Shield, extra-projectile and faster Ultimate-recharge enhancements, alongside more distinct reload, critical and shield bargains. Critical cards now apply consistently to the affected weapons and their burns or bleeds; supported range improvements once again extend Fireball and Shuriken reach. The roster includes 28 Legendary enhancements, two per weapon. Cards throughout the game use shorter descriptions with clearer triggers, benefits and trade-offs.

Items, movement and survival

Starting health rises to 500 HP, and walking is 10% faster. Enemies also move faster, while individual lesser enemies vary their pace so approaching packs spread more naturally. Giantstride now builds to twice base movement speed. Movement items focus on streaks, Power Charges and rewards after Power Rush; teleports and knockback no longer charge them.

Blood Price grants +39% damage and restricts health to 39% Max HP. Bloodseal turns healing above 40% HP, or your lower health limit, into Shield. Berserker’s Pulse rewards low health with attack and movement speed; Final Hour refills Ultimates when an enemy breaks your Shield below 40% HP. Crimson Pact’s drain stops at 15% HP, while Sanguine Aegis turns item-sacrificed HP into Shield.

Conqueror’s Sigil reduces remaining Ultimate cooldowns every 100 kills; Warcaster’s Hourglass can reach 50% shorter cooldowns. New and revised items support Blood, critical sustain, shields, retaliation, Ultimates and Stun. Rotfin Charm works with Siege Drive, Skyfracture Sigil calls lightning throughout Power Rush, and Arcane Surge charges through combat into five seconds of +75% damage and +30% attack speed. Wardstone grants Shield every 40 kills. Crown of Thorns and Solar Ward leave the drop pool, and useful copy limits prevent exhausted stat choices from crowding later rewards.

Invulnerability now clears hostile control effects and protects against stuns, roots, slows, knockback and boss pulls. Phase Guard displays its remaining protection time. Bloodfangs grants 1% lifesteal with a Blood Ward limit of 5% Max HP. Shield-break effects react once when enemies break all Shield, after any damage reaches health.

Unreachable scenery no longer offers a permanent escape from the horde. After a moment on a perch enemies cannot reach, you are pushed onto accessible ground. Quick crossings and low, attackable perches remain usable.

Giants, bosses and the horde

Every biome now shares the same core roster: eight melee fighters, three casters and two bombers, plus special encounters. Five world-giant families can appear anywhere, and Giants Answer draws from all five. Fel Lady becomes a melee enemy; only BoomBots and Gnome Tricksters explode. Lich Thralls appear only in Slayer, overtime brings Mime Ladies alongside Bone Shamblers, and Ritual cultists are Cenarians or Dunewardens.

Enemies split around trees, navigate rocks and find fence gaps. Giants respect large formations while shouldering through small scenery. Major enemies’ bodies better match where attacks connect, walking better follows travel speed, melee swings lunge forward, and knockback looks like a body reeling and recovering.

Boss and miniboss attacks gain distinct wind-up, release, impact and trailing sounds. Warnings fill toward impact and flash when damage lands. Cataclysm and Null Eclipse show their full danger and true safe pocket; Darksteel Onslaught reveals its lanes before visible blade impacts. The Bishop’s Rosary of Judgment orbs move more slowly. Phalanx’s Iron Litany and Iron Processional use molten fire, while Wall of Death loses its playing-card effects and has an arena-wide warning sound.

The Ashen Colossus throws a small Sun alongside its other attacks. Ashfall Crucible and Tyrant Protocol arrive faster and hit harder, launching and stunning on impact; repeated damaging hits strengthen later blasts from that ability until the fight ends. Warnings follow the ground and match the threatened shape. Darksteel Onslaught following Tyrant Protocol or Bombsquad grows with Ritual Giant Power.

Morvessa’s Mark of Death ends when she dies, overlapping Venom Eruption pools hit once per eruption, and Glacial Exhalation reaches its full cone. Stop Time holds boss countdowns, walls and ground hazards. Boss projectiles vanish on their owner’s death, and minibosses and giants no longer cast progressively faster over the course of a run. Boss chests, Endless boss items and the Orb Magnet Colossus’s Legendary draft offer only Epic or Legendary items; if fewer eligible items remain, the draft has fewer choices.

Loot Goblins gain health more gently with Peril and no longer gain speed from it. Their larger treasure bar shows reward-tier gems, damage trails and a red escape fuse, staying visible over crowds and scenery. Treasure gold grows modestly with Peril; item rarity still depends on damage dealt.

Worlds you can read and move through

All ten biomes favour broader rolling hills, roads that follow the land and clearings that blend into local elevation. Dedicated boss arenas stay gentler. Composed terrain and vegetation refresh Redstone Expanse, The Elder Mire, Jadefall Spires and Cinderreach Caldera. Forests form groves, tree lines and smaller stands with fighting space between them. Ruins are removed; new roadside signs, camps, tents and fences give routes more character.

Lighting retains each biome’s identity with gentler snow highlights, more restrained woodland colour and distinct weather. Nearby scenery fades to a silhouette when it hides combat, and the hero outline remains visible through obstructing terrain and giants. Time Stop, Chrono Veil, Midas Touch, Slayer and Warpath frame the screen edge instead of tinting the whole view.

Rewards stand in rarity-coloured beams: green Common, blue Rare, purple Epic and orange Legendary. A chest’s beam shows the highest rarity in its actual first draft, and opening it presents those same choices. Loot Goblin items, Endless boss rewards and Ritual Enhancement Sacks rest in treasure pouches until collected. World buffs gain distinct emblems, matching auras and minimap badges; the stage exit becomes a tall blue gateway.

Map and on-screen objectives share shaped badges, colours and icons, with clearer distances and edge arrows. They follow targets as the camera turns and stay clear of the HUD. Buff timers stack beside your items, and full-screen combat effects no longer spill into the minimap or full map.

Combat sound has been balanced to preserve weapon tails and give major attacks room in busy fights. Heavy hits add camera kicks, ability kills break enemies apart in the strike’s direction, and abrupt camera swings after backpedalling have been removed. Dash and running turns stay consistent across frame rates.

The camera eases sudden Dash and Power Rush speed changes, follows hills without bobbing on small bumps, and keeps jumps and landings framed. High speed widens the view gradually; chained movement and overlapping effects no longer repeatedly pump the view.

Menus, controls and settings

The main menu uses a painted wooden board over a meadow backdrop. Change hero, starting weapon and ability directly in its Loadout window. Keyboard and controller focus connects choices with gold rings and clear prompts.

Pause → Loadout lets you swap weapon and ability slots mid-run. Bindings stay attached to the slots; cooldowns, charges and upgrades move with the equipment. Extra abilities wait in Reserve, and a new ability arriving to a full loadout can be placed or kept for later.

Pause, results, Stage Cleared, Journey, Unlocks and Giantforge share painted windows, clearer cards and readable navigation. Wheel receipts show actual ability cards. The Endless HUD clarifies threat, survival time, kills and tier progress; additional-projectile notices point to the affected weapon. The Gambling Man refreshes its weapon offers when reopened, and its purchases and prices are clearer.

The Battle Ledger lays out your hero, weapons, abilities and items, including rolled enhancements and Peril details. Results show all gold earned, your equipment and progression, with survival metrics leading an Endless finish. A fatal hit now begins a skippable cinematic: battle slows, the HUD fades, the camera closes in and essence drifts away before results. Ending the run from Pause or dying beneath an open menu goes straight to results.

Settings has General, Display, Graphics, Audio, Controls and Progress categories, with explanations for the selected option. Keyboard, alternate and controller bindings appear side by side; rebinding confirms conflicts. Master Volume joins Music and Sound Effects, with all three defaulting to 50% on a fresh install or Restore Defaults.

Graphics offers Very Low, Low, Medium, High, Ultra and Extreme, plus Custom and 15 advanced settings. Render Scale ranges from 50% to 150%, with AMD FSR below native resolution. Steam Deck receives a dedicated 1280×800 preset with a default 30 FPS limit; frame-limit choices also include 40 and 45 FPS. These are settings, not measured hardware performance guarantees. Major enemies retain shadows, while lesser enemies no longer cast them. Lower presets reduce ambience, and texture changes during a run apply at the next stage.

More reliable combat and rewards

• Item drafts no longer disappear behind a level-up. Pickups wait until their reward is accepted, and rewards collected during another draft, the wheel or a stage transition appear afterward.
• Stage exits collect remaining XP and gold orbs. Any resulting level-up choices appear before the summary.
• Burn, Bleed and Poison deal their full listed damage, including their final tick, consistently across frame rates.
• Dense-crowd attacks find their targets more reliably. Area abilities, Manaburst, slowing zones and repeated effects no longer stop affecting new enemies partway through a cast.
• Frozen bombers thaw properly. A Ritual Champion sacrifice no longer fully heals the army, and giants keep their item rewards after a Ritual.
• Repeated Blinks no longer let enemies pass through you. Frost Nova follow-ups and Skybreaker marks stay with the enemies originally affected.
• Weapon effects no longer interfere with other attacks. Fractured Horizon no longer changes Singularity casts; Shuriken Tempest leaves ordinary blades intact; poison spreads correctly at upgraded reach; and lingering fronts, pools and pulses end at stage transitions.
• Enemy spell hazards stay readable. Orb attacks no longer jump between casters, and poison pools remain visible while they can still hurt you.
• Menu navigation remains available. Unlocks can be reached with keyboard or controller and stays inactive while another window is open.

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