Protect the King (Hardcore)

Similar to Hardcore Hunt there is a Hardcore Protect the King mode. This mode unlocks once you have an Awakened Hunter and your Hunter must be awakened to play this mode. There are many different options for upgrades including Poison, Burn, Freeze, as well as the normal Level Up, Heal, and Gold Increase.

The goal is to survive 50 waves. The King is not as protected as he is in the regular mode and moves to a new area every 3 waves. Monsters will come from two directions at a time to reach the King and there is no easy way to funnel them together like in the regular mode so you will need a partner to work together. The monsters start as the hardest ones from each biome; Worm Queen, Death Knight, Crystal Keeper, and Dragon. As the game goes on there will be monsters from Kraken's Ship, Yeti's Tundra, and finally Maze.

As you kill monsters coins will drop that are shared between both players so it doesn't matter who picks them up. These coins can be spent on the upgrades mentioned above. The cost of healing your Hunter increases by 5 gold each time you use it up until you spend 20 gold to heal. It will then cost 20 gold per heal and continues to scale the more times you use it. If you die you will respawn as long as your partner and the King are still alive.

Your rewards be Dragon, Kraken, and Yeti gems. The amount you get will depend on the amount of waves completed. If you manage to beat wave 50 you will receive a total of 1200~ Dungeon Gems.

Strategy

My experience in this mode is that not many people play it or if they do they play with friends rather than random matchmaking. It is a difficult mode and requires the proper hunters and teamwork to progress. Though if you have a partner you can reliably complete wave 50 with it is a great source of Dungeon Gems. As I mentioned it is a combination of Dragon, Kraken, and Yeti gems totaling around 1200 and the mode takes 15 to 20 minutes to complete.

Superhero

Superhero can be a little difficult to clear the first wave or two but once you do get enough kills to trigger your first Power Up it should be pretty easy for the rest of the game. The one con with Superhero is the range is a little short so you may take a few hits which will deal a lot of damage if you are in higher waves. This is why I liked to run Regen as one of my Permanent Abilities so I would be constantly recovering health. You will most likely take a few hits in the early game as you are starting out as well.

Once you do begin to Power Up you should be able to clear the rest of the waves solo. Just make sure to get as many Supercollider and Infinitity+1 abilities as you can. Also, a few movement speed can be beneficial. As the game progresses you will want to balance between increasing your coin bonus as well as leveling up. As for the abilities that spawn in the base by the king it is is most important to get burn. Once you get burn you will be outputting a lot of damage. It can also be helpful to get Stun and Deepfreeze to slow the monsters down if for some reason you don't have enough damage output but this shouldn't be an issue.

As for strategy, typically one player takes each path in Hardcore coop but with Superhero you have enough damage to cover both. Depending on what Hunter the other player is using you may have to help out a lot. I usually just cleared my initial wave then backed up to be by the King to get any monsters that the other player might let through accidentally. One thing to watch out for is don't over extend yourself going to the other player's side to attempt to kill monsters to speed up the waves. I've lost games doing this thinking my side was clear and going to help the other player to speed things up but turns out I missed a monster or another spawned after I left. It is easiest to just wait in the middle and kill everything as it comes to you.

Trickster

This Hunter is so great because his attack stuns enemies and his awakened ability allows his damage to scale throughout the game with every monster killed. The abilities you will want to focus on in order are Fast Stealth, Improved Tricks, Movement Speed, and finally Death Strike. Fast Stealth is the most important to allow you to get back into stealth to use your ability quickly. Improved Tricks will increase your damage and stun time from your attack from stealth. Movement Speed helps you get between areas when the King moves, allows you to catch up to monsters as their speed increases, as well as reach the necessary upgrade pads between waves as there isn't much time.

Throughout the game it is important to focus increasing your gold bonus as well as your level. It is a balance to increase the gold bonus but also grabbing enough levels to get the abilities you need. If you get Fast Stealth and Movement Speed early it can allow you to focus more on early gold bonus. If you don't get these abilities you may have to focusing on leveling more until you get them or else you will be unable to control the monsters attacking the King. As you start getting to around the half way point of the game it is worth grabbing some of the Poison, Burn, and Deep Freeze upgrades for the additional damage to allow you to defeat the waves easier. Burn is probably best to focus on as the damage is higher but it is worth grabbing two to three levels of the others.

This is a difficult mode and requires a lot of focus. One mistake by either player can let a monster through that kills the King. At later waves it will only take 1 to 2 attacks to kill him most likely. Superhero is definitely the best hunter here. If using Trickster at least one is recommended but having two Trickster is even better. This allows each player to lock down their waves. I've heard there can be success with other Hunters that have many attacks and crowd control effects especially if you grab the stun upgrade but just having a Superhero or two Tricksters is the most reliable. This game can be a little glitchy where monsters die after you attack or will run by you without getting stunned.