How a run actually goes

You already know the circle. Walk, shoot, grab the gems, keep the horde on one side of you. Auroch has said, more than once, that they want that Vampire Survivors feeling, then Warhammer weapons and enemies on top of it. The feeling holds until a faction trait switches on. After that, a build that only stacks damage starts losing for a specific reason.

Tyranids, then the red screen

If the swarm is Tyranids, find the synapse creature before you fall in love with your clear. Auroch's 17 September post describes Synapse as something a critical bioform puts out, and they use a Hive Tyrant as the example. Nearby Termagants and Hormagaunts go Berserk. They move faster and they hit harder. Kill the synapse creature and those lesser bugs drop into a short stunned shock. That shock is the gift. Use it. Standing in the gaunts and hoping area damage outruns Berserk is how the minute goes bad.

Orks do not give you a creature to priority-target. The screen starts turning red. Auroch calls that the Waaagh. More Orks spawn, and the ones already in the fight frenzy. There is no percent on the post. You will notice it as the edge of the screen stopping being empty. If you were saving a pickup for a boss, this is a reasonable time to spend a defensive one.

Von Ryan's Leaper is the Tyranid you have probably already met if you touched an earlier demo. It rears up and pounces over the crowd. Blades of Khorne Bloodcrushers are the readable charge: a telegraph, then a line. Step off it, or stop them before they arrive. Those two are in the 3 September enemy-skills post, next to a line that enemies can also heal or flee and come back. The post does not name which unit heals. Do not invent one.

Skaven do not let you keep your circle

A Ratling Gunner travels across the screen and leaves damaging hazard behind it. The lane you were kiting through becomes the bad ground. Acolyte Globadiers throw toxic globes. Those poison you, not the horde. The Bell of Doom is an endless spell in that same post. It puts Warded on nearby Skaven, so even a weak rat gets tougher. You will feel that as a Clan Rat suddenly taking extra hits. Auroch used a Clan Rat with a rusted blade as the reason you want a heal before the stick lands.

The 6 October post also drops Gloomspite Gitz into this mess: Bad Moon up, grots in legions, Squigs and Troggoths behind them. A squig that looks ready to pop is a moving hazard.

Pickups, including the ones that hit you

They spawn around faction-themed lights. Most belong to one universe even when two of them look similar.

On the 40k side, a Frag Grenade is the ordinary option. It is also the Legend of Catachan's starting weapon. He throws them as a matter of course. A Melta-bomb is the one with a delay. Kite the mob into the radius, then leave. Standing on your own melta is a demo classic waiting to happen. The Blast Template lands and then wipes a huge area. Auroch added the catch in the same paragraph: some enemies resist that insta-kill. Hellfire Ammo raises all ranged damage for a while and applies Poisoned. The pickup post ties it to Sternguard Veterans, and names Malum Caedo there. Useful in a Tyranid swarm. Less useful if you have filled every slot with melee.

Age of Sigmar pickups are happier to hurt the person who grabbed them. The Purple Sun of Shyish damages anything in the light, you included, then leaves the screen. Auroch teased a way to keep it longer and did not explain it. Ravenak's Gnashing Jaws tether to you, bite whatever is near, and apply Burning. The post is blunt that they are not picky. Suffocating Gravetide stuns, then the struck enemies flee for a moment. That is a breath. It is not a clear.

Kill the synapse creature before you clear the gaunts, and step out of the Purple Sun. The November roster is on the other essay.

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