Preparing for wave 20 — the checklist that beats the final boss

Wave 20 is the only wave with a boss you cannot outlast, and the fight is different from the horde you have been clearing. Runs that die there usually fail one of four checks that could have been fixed in the previous three shops.

1. Can you hit something that moves?

Hordes walk into your melee range; a boss does not stay there. If your rack is six slow melee weapons with no range, waves 17–19 are the time to buy Range or to swap one weapon for something with reach. The Hunter and Ranger have it built in; Brawler and Ogre need to buy it.

2. Do you have single-target damage?

Explosions and pierce are great against crowds and poor against one target. A Tier IV single-target weapon added late is often worth more than another crowd weapon. Check your damage number per hit in the build planner, not per wave.

3. Can you survive three hits in a row?

The boss hits hard and in sequence. Armor reduces every hit and is the better buy than Max HP for this fight; Dodge is a coin flip. If you are under 10 Armor on wave 19, buy Armor before anything else.

4. Is your economy done?

Harvesting and Luck bought in wave 18 never pay back. From wave 17 on, spend everything on damage and survival. Sell economy items if the shop offers something that wins the fight.

The wave 19 shop

Spend every material. There is no wave 21 to save for, and the reroll button is the cheapest it will ever be relative to what you hold. A last Tier IV merge or a single Armor item is the difference.

In co-op

The boss targets players in turn, so one tank with Armor lets the others deal damage safely. Our team builder marks the wave 20 role for each comp.