Survival

Survival is the Classic Mode of Orcs Must Die! A co-op action tower defense mode where the Main Goal is to prevent the Enemies to reach the rift. It can be played in parties, by matchmaking or by custom games, up to 3 players in a match.

All players will spawn in, and will be given a short period of time to set up their initial trap box. When players are ready, they press ‘G’ to ready up, and once all players are ready, the wave launches. In survival the player defends the rift using their Heroes and with the help of their loadouts containing Traps and several other powerful items like Traits or Gear. The game is over if 25 Rift Points worth of minions make it into your Rift.If you die, you have the option to buy back in immediately with Coin earned in game!

After a few waves, new Minion Portals might open, and send multiple lanes of enemies. Work together to fend off the hordes. Red colored Minion Portals in the minimap indicate that they are spawning Enemies the current wave, yellow colored Portals mean that they are opening and sending Minions next wave. Grey colored Minion Portals aren't sending Enemies this wave.

### Prologue and Tutorials

There is a playable Prologue with bits of story that acts as an introduction to the game, it also shows the basics of the game.

The Prologue has 5 different levels that use reduced versions of regular maps. They are mainly to introduce game mechanics and provide a bit of Story/Lore.

There are also optional tutorials that explain the very basics from hero movement and trap placement to some more advanced concepts on the second tutorial.

## Difficulties

In Survival, the playable battlegrounds are divided in 4 difficulties that are unlocked by leveling up your account:

* **Apprentice**
* **War Mage:** Unlocks at account lvl 8.
* **Master:** Unlocks at account lvl 20.
* **Rift Lord:** Unlocks at account lvl 40.

Difficulty is also affected by the number of players in Survival Battlegrounds: Minions have 10% less health in solo play and 5% less health in duo play.

Also, Heroes deal 3x more damage in solo play and 1.5x more damage in duo play.

## 5 Star System

For those familiar with *Orcs Must Die!* franchise 5-star probablysounds very much like 5-skull, a core system from the previous games. Since Skulls are the main in-game currency in *OMD!U*, we changed the name a bit to avoid confusion. And hey, who doesn't like earning nice, shiny stars?

As a bonus, high Scores and star ratings appear on the Battlegrounds Leaderboards for friends and fellow War Mages to see! The *OMD!U* community is full of talented rift defenders who deserve to have their Achievements on display.

The 5-star system provides an added degree of challenge and reward for the most skilled War Mages. Earning a 5-star rating is quite difficult (especially in the later levels) and often requires trial and error to perfect an ideal combination of strategy, killbox design, hero, and loadout for each scenario.

This system also provides rewards based on performance, awarding bonus Skulls and experience for each Battleground completed at a high star rating. For each Battleground, two performance-based Chests are available (at the 3-star and 5-star marks). These allow War Mages build out an even stronger arsenal of Traps, Gear, and other goodies for their loadouts.

### Earning High Star Ratings

Star ratings are awarded based on completion time and remaining Rift Points. In the simplest terms, the more Rift Points you have left at the end of a battleground, the higher your star rating. Additionally, each battleground has a par time that *must be met* in order to achieve the 5-star rating. Par times can be viewed under "Special Conditions" while selecting a battleground or in the status screen in-game (press TAB or activating the game settings to make it visible on screen).

**Star Rating Thresholds for Battlegrounds:**

* **One star:** 1-9 remaining rift points.
* **Two stars:** 10-18 remaining rift points.
* **Three stars:** 19-24 remaining rift points.
* **Four stars:** 25 remaining rift points.
* **Five stars:** 25 remaining rift points *and finished under par time.*

### Star Rewards

* **One star:** 50 and bonus XP.
* **Two stars:** 100 and bonus XP.
* **Three stars:** victory Chest and bonus XP.
* **Four stars:** 200 and bonus XP.
* **Five stars:** victory Chest and bonus XP.

**The more stars earned, the higher the bonus XP. While the Skulls and Chests are only received the first time the milestones are reached for each battleground or Endless challenge, the bonus XP is earned with every victory!**

**Par Times are Challenging**

Earning a 5-star rating on some battlegrounds or reaching wave 25 on endless mode might seem impossible, but it can be done! Struggling while playing solo? Team up with another War Mage (or two!) and tackle the challenge together. Still struggling in a team? Give a new strategy or hero combination a try to see if your results improve.

And of course, the *OMD!U* community has some spectacular players who love to share their strategies. The forums are a great place to ask for help and brainstorm tactics for challenging battlegrounds.

## Scoring

Visit  Survival Scoring for all the info about scoring in Survival.