Patch 7.26 (V1.0.450) — July 26, 2026

PlayMud Studio shipped patch 7.26 (build V1.0.450) on July 26, 2026 — a content-and-balance update in launch week, following the same-day patch 7.25 hotfix. Steam news and community coverage highlight a new Blood Moon difficulty tier, a progression shortcut for high difficulties, Reality quality-of-life, several co-op fixes, a Mythic Weapon Forge rule change, and a King Hunter ability tweak. This wiki page summarizes what changed and where to read deeper guides.

Blood Moon difficulty

Patch 7.26 introduces Blood Moon — a difficulty tier above existing levels for hunters who have cleared the top-end routes and want sharper scaling, denser modifier pressure, and run economy tuned for endgame squads. Blood Moon sits in the same family as Chaos Battle Scar toggles and district scaling rules documented on our Chaos Battle Scar difficulty guide.

Expect higher baseline enemy health and damage modifiers, stricter reward pacing, and UI labels that clearly mark Blood Moon lobbies so co-op parties do not accidentally queue into it unprepared. If you are still climbing Hard or learning Nightmare, finish those tiers first — Blood Moon assumes you understand Forge routing, Relic trade etiquette, and boss phase tells.

Difficulty progression change

Previously, unlocking Nightmare, Hell, and Reality required clearing intermediate gates in sequence. Patch 7.26 streamlines progression: clearing Hard now unlocks Nightmare, Hell, and Reality directly.

That change helps returning roguelike veterans reach high-difficulty content faster without repeating every stepping-stone tier. It does not remove the skill check — those modes still apply their full modifier stacks. Revisit the Chaos Battle Scar guide for what each tier changes in districts, Tarot rules, and economy.

Reality: inventory access after bosses

On Reality difficulty, hunters previously had tighter inventory friction immediately after boss fights — swapping Relics, consumables, or Forge pickups before the next district could feel awkward during co-op transitions. Patch 7.26 grants better inventory access after boss fights on Reality, giving squads a clearer window to reorganize loadouts before the run pushes forward.

Solo players benefit from the same timing adjustment when chaining district routes. Pair this with our weapon customization guide if you are reshaping Mythic builds between chapters.

Co-op fixes

Multiplayer received targeted stability and fairness fixes in 7.26:

• Relic duplication fix — edge cases where duplicated Relics could appear across trade windows or revive flows are corrected.
• Crawl-after-death fix — downed hunters should no longer get stuck in crawl animations that blocked revives or input.
• Reconnect stability — dropped sessions should rejoin lobbies more reliably without desynced difficulty or ghost inventories.

Retest four-player routes with your squad using our co-op guide. Re-host lobbies after updating so everyone loads the same build rules.

Mythic Weapon Forge cooldown

Mythic Weapon forge upgrades — high-investment customization at the Forge covered in our weapon customization guide — now carry a cooldown between upgrade attempts. That prevents rapid spam rerolls that could skew economy pacing on long Reality or Blood Moon runs.

Plan upgrade windows at district shops and end-of-stage Forges rather than chaining back-to-back rolls in the same menu session. Cooldown duration is live in the client; check in-run Forge UI after updating for exact timers on your save.

King Hunter: Bullet True Damage

King Hunter’s Bullet ability receives additional True Damage against enemies with damage resistances — armor layers, elemental shields, or boss-phase mitigation that normally shaves off ability damage. The tweak helps King Hunter stay relevant on resistance-heavy boss routes without rewriting the entire kit.

If you build around Bullet proc windows, revisit district boss guides after the patch; fights where resistances gate DPS checks should feel less punishing.

What to do after updating

1. Verify game files in Steam (Properties → Installed Files → Verify) — build V1.0.450 should appear in client metadata or Steam news.
2. Check your difficulty unlock panel after clearing Hard; Nightmare, Hell, and Reality should appear without extra gates.
3. Re-host co-op lobbies so Relic trade and reconnect fixes apply cleanly.
4. Note Mythic Forge cooldown timing before planning multi-chapter upgrade sessions.
5. Report lingering duplication or crawl bugs with party size and district in Steam discussions.

Related reading

• Patch 7.25 — scene rendering optimizations, control remapping, Buff bar and co-op difficulty sync fixes.
• Launch notes — full release context and week-one expectations.
• Updates hub — all wiki-maintained patch pages.

Future patches get dedicated wiki pages when they materially change balance, networking, or routing. Bookmark the updates hub and official Steam news for live numbers.