Nights and Waves - The 10-Night Run Structure

The run is a ladder of 10 nights, and every night is a ladder of 5 waves. That structure is official, as is the finale of each night — “a devastating champion waiting at the end of every night and a few hundred toothy horrors in between.” Champions pay Salt; Salt feeds the Astral Chart; the Chart makes the next climb start higher. (Source: Steam store page)

The Official Numbers, As One Table

Structure element	Confirmed value	Source
Nights per run	10	Steam store page
Waves per night	5	Steam store page
Night finale	A devastating champion	Steam store page
Wave filler	A few hundred toothy horrors	Steam store page
Champion reward	Salt	Steam store page
Salt sink	The Astral Chart, between runs	Steam store page
Failure cost	Mana, buildings, wave progress — not permanent upgrades	Steam store page

Phase 1: Nights 1-3, the Income Phase (community framing)

With the whole run officially ahead of you, the early nights exist to turn zombies into an economy. Zap-density is income-density: every wave of horrors is a mana delivery. The discipline of this phase is spending — income buildings bought on night 1 pay every subsequent night; the same mana hoarded to night 4 buys the same building a town-too-late. End phase 1 with a pillar chosen (see our town builds guide) and a first champion kill banked as Salt. (structure official; spending advice community)

Phase 2: Nights 4-7, the Pressure Phase (community framing)

This is where most roguelite runs meet their wall — the horror count that was income becomes overhead, and champions stop being paydays and become exams. The official tools for exactly this moment: storms for the clumps, direct dome repair for the crisis, both upgradeable through the Chart so “your personal lightning remains lethal” as the town scales. If phase 2 kills you, it killed you at the frontier — which is the system working. Die with Salt banked; the Chart is the real run. (tools official; phase framing community)

Phase 3: Nights 8-10, the Championship (community framing)

The last three nights are champion-centric: their Salt officially funds prestige-tier traits, and their pressure decides whether the dome story ends in triumph or a very instructive collapse. Phase-3 habits: shields topped before the night starts, repair mana reserved and untouched through waves 1-4, and storm charges held for the finale’s clumps. The official loss rule — everything run-scoped is forfeit, everything permanent is kept — means a phase-3 death still ships progress home. (loss rule official; habits community)

Champions: The Salt Economy

Champions are the only confirmed Salt source, and Salt is the only confirmed Astral Chart input. That makes champions the metagame’s exchange rate: each run’s true yield is measured in champions felled, not nights survived. A run that dies on night 7 after four champions is officially richer than one that scraped to night 8 while dodging finales. Hunt your finales. (mechanics official; valuation community)

Five Maps, Ten Nights — How They Might Interlock (community analysis)

Five unique coastal maps are officially confirmed, and ten nights officially make a run — the arithmetic invites a question this wiki keeps open until in-game evidence lands: does a full run tour all five shores, or does each map host its own ladder? Either way, the tactical read is the same: the officially “unique” coastal locations promise different approaches to the same dome-defense grammar — a rocky cove narrows horror lanes, an open strand widens them, a cliff-backed town halves the fronts. Learn the map’s shape before the first wave of its night; the between-wave breathers are the official tempo, and map-reading is what breather one is for. (map count official; map behaviour community speculation, clearly marked)

Managing the Four Breathers (community estimates)

Five waves mean four gaps, and the gaps are where governors are made. A breather protocol that scales from night 1 to night 10: scan the dome’s weakest face (ten seconds), patch or reinforce it (mana well spent by definition), place the run’s next building from your chosen pillar, and re-position your camera before the horde’s music returns. The protocol never changes; only the stakes do. By the championship nights the breather is also triage — deciding what you will deliberately let burn so the core holds. Champions officially end every night; breather discipline decides whether you meet yours with a town or a memory of one. (wave structure official; protocol community)

Champion-Fight Checklist (community estimates)

Arrive at every wave-5 finale with: shields topped during wave 4’s breather; repair mana reserved and untouched through waves 1-4; storm charges banked for the champion’s clump moment; camera pre-aimed at the dome’s weakest face; and zero idle mana — the shop is closed, the books are clean. The champion officially ends the night either way; the checklist decides which way. (finale official; checklist community)

The Ten-Night Psychology (community)

Nights 1-3 feel easy — that is the income phase lying to you. Nights 4-7 feel unfair — that is the pressure phase being honest. Nights 8-10 feel surgical — by then the Chart (officially permanent) has made you more than the town you lose. Every roguelite teaches this curve; Wickshore’s official 10×5 structure simply writes it down. Expect the night-5 wall, respect the night-8 exam, and let Salt, not survival, keep the score. (structure official; curve community)

Sources

• Official Steam store page — Wickshore, retrieved 2026-10-30

Related Guides

• The Mana Economy
• Town Builds
• Getting Started

FAQ

Can you skip waves or nights? Nothing official suggests skipping; the ladder is the run. (community note)

Do later nights have more waves? No — 5 waves is confirmed as per-night, uniform. Intensity scales inside the wave, not around it. (official)