Map & Difficulty Changes
- The map is the same size on all difficulties.
- Starting gold is the same on all difficulties.
- Gold/Silver is the same for each map on all difficulties.
- Multiple adjustments to cave and invasion settings for Hard and Nightmare mode.
- Map generation now leaves a certain amount of minimum distance between the starting room and nearby caves. This makes the beginning much safer and more consistent.

Affixes
- Hard mode and Nightmare mode now feature random Affixes. These systems change how the game plays and offers new challenges.
- Rampage: makes invading orcs enrage after dealing or taking damage.
- Torment: whenever a creature dies it curses nearby units dealing a percentage of its max health over time.
- Unholy: a slow but steady trickle of undead assault the mountain from the entrance.
- Bloodworms: whenever a creature dies there's a chance to spawn bloodworms, which die slowly and attack everything nearby.

Behemoth (new)
- This cave creature has a new model and abilities.
- Behemoths have a shout that damages nearby enemies.
- Behemoths periodically shield themselves to absorb incoming damage.

Hydra (new)
- A new cave creature that can be found on Floor -2.
- Applies Poisoned on every bite.
- Hydras have some constant health regeneration.

Myconids (new)
- These new mushroom-people offer a new challenge to players. Their spore-based abilities provide a lot of cross-synergy making them a decent challenge on Floor -1.
- Red Myconid: their spores debuff enemies and deal some small damage over time.
- Brown Mycnoid: their spores apply an absorb shield on allies.
- Green Myconid: their spores apply a regenerative effect on allies, restoring health over time.
- Blue Myconid: summons mushrooms out of the ground dealing magic damage to nearby enemies.

Dwarf Berserkers
- Now cost less gold (175 down from 225), but now also cost 4 food to train.
- Their Bloodlust ability was renamed to Frenzy.
- Frenzy now gives attack speed and crit rather than attack speed and attack damage.

Giant Spider
- Now also applies Poisoned on every successful hit.

Market (new)
- This new building automatically sells off excess resources.
- Resources can also be manually sold-off at the Market.
- There are diminishing returns for resources sell-off values.

Warehouse (new)
- This new building gives you some max storage capacity for all four major resources.

Tar Trap (new)
- This new floor trap sprays sticky tar at all nearby enemies, slowing their movement speed.

Poison Dart Trap (new)
- This new wall trap shoots out a series of poison darts, doing flat damage and applying Poisoned on-hit.

Bomb Trap (new)
- This new floor trap pops up to deploy several bombs which explode after a short delay.

Floor Spear Trap
- Now deals bonus damage to Large and Giant sized enemies.

Mining Camp
- Good Boots: now gives only 15% movement speed but only costs 50 gold to research.
- Enchanted Boots: new tech that gives miners very high movement speed and some basic access to magic resist.
- Pocket Beer: this former runeforge talent gives miners a way to eat without having to run to a Tavern.

Alchemy Lab
- Corrosive Mastery: this new tech gives a simple way to strengthen Acid Traps. Additionally it reduces the armor of enemies affected.
- Unbelievably Sticky Tar: this new tech gives a simple way to strengthen Tar Traps.
- Deadly Poisons: improves the damage of Poisoned effects applied by dwarves or traps.
- Bulk Gunpowder Refinement: this new tech provides a way to strengthen all explosives, such as grenades and bomb traps.

Treasury
- The treasury no-longer increases tax revenue from 50% to 100%. You simply start at 100%.
- Property Rights: this new tech increases tax revenue generated from Small Houses.
- Coal Tax: this new tech increases tax revenue generated from Forges.
- Brewer's License: this new tech increases tax revenue generated from Breweries.
- Careful Accounting: this new tech increases all tax revenue.
- Patent Fees: this new tech increases tax revenue generated from Workshops.
- Market Share: this new tech increases tax revenue generated from Market sell-off activity.
- Union Fees: this new tech gives tax revenue for each Engineer.

Library
- The Daily Rune: this new tech gives all units some daily experience.
- Research Notes: this new tech gives access to an easy Research Speed increase.
- Bradock's Martial Primer: this new tech improves how units perform in melee combat.
- How To King: this new tech provides a way to give the king a large amount of experience.
- The Monster Manual: this new tech improves how units do when fighting cave creatures.
- Xy'thul's Codex: this new tech gives increased Runic Knowledge gain for decreased Research Speed.
- Basic Engineering Vol IX: this new tech gives a big boost to the performance of Engineers.
- Forgefather's Teachings: this tech (which was previously at the Temple) now also gives reduced training time to Geomancers as well as Runepriests.

Formation Grounds
- Has had a visual overhaul and offers better pathing to units standing there.
- Now has room for 20 units, up from 16.

Barracks
- Expedited Conscription: no-longer scales to 2 formation grounds, but now reduces the training time of all military units by a flat 10 seconds.

Berserker Hall
- Enlistment Beer: now reduces training time by 10 seconds, down from 20.

Blacksmith
- Spiked Armor: gold cost reduced from 350 to 200. Research time increased to 180s.
- Steel Armor: now also gives 5% max health.
- Mithril Armor: now gives another 5 armor and 10 magic resist. Research time increased to 90s.
- Adamantium Armor: now gives another 5 armor and 5 magic resist. Research time increased to 120s.
- Sharpened Slicer Blades: this new tech provides a simple way to strengthen the damage of Slicer Traps.

Forge
- Now has a maximum limit of 5 buildings of this type.
- Refined Coal: now gives a 25% increase in Iron production. Gold cost reduced to 50.
- Blast Furnace: now gives a 15% increase in Iron production. Gold cost reduced to 75.
- Rune-Arc Furnace: now gives a 10% increase in Iron production. Gold cost reduced to 100.
- Forge Fueled: this former runeforge talent now gives a simple way to strengthen Magma Traps.

Brewery
- Now has a maximum limit of 5 buildings of this type.
- Goldbeard Hops: now gives a 25% increase in Food production. Gold cost reduced to 50.
- Pressure-Release Valve: now gives a 15% increase in Food production. Gold cost reduced to 75.
- Fermentation Schedule: now gives a 10% increase in Food production. Gold cost reduced to 100.

Mushroom Farm
- Now has a maximum limit of 5 buildings of this type.
- Compost Bins: now gives a 25% increase in Food production. Gold cost reduced to 50.
- Bulk Inoculation: now gives a 15% increase in Food production. Gold cost reduced to 75.
- Eleven Book of Plants: now gives a 10% increase in Food production. Gold cost reduced to 100.

Deep-Water Dock
- Now has a maximum limit of 5 buildings of this type.
- Extra Long Fishing Line: now gives a 25% increase in Food production. Gold cost reduced to 50.
- Treble Hooks: now gives a 15% increase in Food production. Gold cost reduced to 75.
- Light Lures: now gives a 10% increase in Food production. Gold cost reduced to 100.

Workshop
- Now has a maximum limit of 5 buildings of this type.
- Spare Parts: now gives a 25% increase in Eng Part production. Gold cost reduced to 50.
- The Manual: now gives a 15% increase in Eng Part production. Gold cost reduced to 75.
- Triggernometry: now gives a 10% increase in Eng Part production. Gold cost reduced to 100.
- Poison-Tipped Bolts: now gives Tunnel Scouts a chance to applying Poisoned on-hit.
- Advanced Bomb Dispenser: this new tech lets you drastically increase the strength of Bomb Traps.

Runeforge Talents (Mining)
- Prospector's Intuition: changed to work on non-mineral cubes instead of mineral-rich cubes.
- Good Boots: removed and reworked into tech at the Mining Camp.

Runeforge Talents (Infantry)
- Battle Shout: a new talent that gives Berserkers a way to buff nearby allies in combat.
- The Bloody Axes: now only reduces training time by 10 seconds, but grants 20% attack speed, up from 15%.
- Tower Shields: now grants double the previous threat, and now grants 8% block chance, up from 5%.

Runeforge Talents (Traps)
- Piercing Punishment: this new talent gives Spike, Spear, and Floor Spear traps a way to bleed enemies they damage.
- High Pressure Pump: this new talent massively improves the performance of Tar Traps.
- Killswitch: this new talent gives a way for traps to reset themselves after killing an enemy.
- Combustion: this new talent creates synergy between tar traps and things that deal fire damage.
- Reserve Tanks: this new talent increases the duration and splash radius of Acid Traps.
- Teoarrk's Corrosive Combination: creates synergy between Acid Traps and Tar Traps and applies a powerful damage-over-time and slow effect.
- Autoloader Mechanism: this new talent lets Spear Traps and Poison Dart Traps fire additional projectiles.
- Deadly Darts: this new talent increases the damage dealt by Poison Dart Traps and gives them a chance to apply additional stacks of Poisoned.
- Deathsweep: this new talent provides way for Slicer Traps to get multiple kills in a row.
- Burning Spears: this new talent strengthens Spear Traps and creates synergy with Tar Traps via Combustion.
- Panic!: this new talent makes enemies run in fear when damaged by traps.
- Doomboom Bombs: this new talent provides a visual update for bomb traps, and massively strengthens their damage.

Runeforge Talents (Culture)
- Brought My Own Bombs: this new talent provides a way to quickly get access to various explosives and grenades.

Resource Bar
- Research speed is now tracked in the top resource bar and is shared by all buildings to calculate technology research times.
- A new number next to the runic knowledge indicator also keeps track of your rate of runic knowledge gain.

Common Effects
- Bleeding, Poisoned, and Burning are now common effects and can be applied by lots of various things. See below:
- Bleeding: deals 16 damage over 4 seconds, stacking up to 3 times.
- Poisoned: deals 60 damage over 20 seconds, stacking up to 10 times.
- Burning: deals 80 damage over 10 seconds, does not stack.

Damage Meter
- Now also tracks damage dealt by traps.
- Now also tracks damage dealt by affixes (ex: Torment).