Star Knight: Order of the Vortex
Steam News 9 August 20259mo ago

Major Update: Survive and Score out now!

Welcome back Star Knights! The Survive and Score update is here, with new content including an Endless Mode (which features its own unique mechanics) and a scoring system accompanied with leaderboards which allow you to…

Update log

Full Star Knight: Order of the Vortex update

The complete published notes, normalized for clean reading and source attribution.

Extracted changes

1 fix6 additions15 changes1 removal
  • Gameplay
  • Balance
  • UI and audio
  • Events
  • Fixes
addedWelcome back Star Knights!The Survive and Score update is here, with new content including an Endless Mode (which features its own unique mechanics) and a scoring system accompanied with leaderboards which allow you to compare yourself to previous runs and other players. Furthermore, this update introduces many smaller features, improvements, and bugfixes.
changedScoring SystemThe scoring system is simple but effective. Players gain points for killing enemies, with a kill streak that increases with every kill and makes each subsequent enemy worth more points. However the killstreak resets if the player takes damage. This makes killing enemies and avoiding damage both important to getting a high score. Furthermore, playing on higher void crystals multiplies the score, meaning the best way to get the highest score is the play at the highest difficulty.
addedEndless ModeWhen a player wins a run, they have the option to finish the run like normal, or continue back from the beginning in a New Game Plus mode. When you begin New Game Plus, you start back from the beginning of the run with some drastic changes:
changedEndless ModeGreatly increased enemy stats - they are tougher to kill, faster, and hit harder
changedEndless ModeIncreased amount of enemies and less time between waves
addedEndless ModeOnly one new attachment slot per new game plus
4th Area boss Boss health increased slightly Shield heal amount:500 to 750S

Welcome back Star Knights!

The Survive and Score update is here, with new content including an Endless Mode (which features its own unique mechanics) and a scoring system accompanied with leaderboards which allow you to compare yourself to previous runs and other players. Furthermore, this update introduces many smaller features, improvements, and bugfixes.

Important note: This update IS compatible with older saves, so any progress will be kept.

MAIN FEATURES

Scoring System

The scoring system is simple but effective. Players gain points for killing enemies, with a kill streak that increases with every kill and makes each subsequent enemy worth more points. However the killstreak resets if the player takes damage. This makes killing enemies and avoiding damage both important to getting a high score. Furthermore, playing on higher void crystals multiplies the score, meaning the best way to get the highest score is the play at the highest difficulty.

Leaderboards

The personal leaderboard shows all of your runs while the online leaderboard shows the best runs from each player. Each run on the leaderboard shows various details such as what ship, attachments, and crew members were used during the run.

Endless Mode

When a player wins a run, they have the option to finish the run like normal, or continue back from the beginning in a New Game Plus mode. When you begin New Game Plus, you start back from the beginning of the run with some drastic changes:

  • CosmeticGreatly increased enemy statsthey are tougher to kill, faster, and hit harder
  • Increased amount of enemies and less time between waves

  • CosmeticCredits are worth moreallowing for continued upgrade progression
  • Only one new attachment slot per new game plus

Furthermore, when in endless mode, upgrades don't just stop at max level anymore. When an attachment hits max level, it can be continuously be upgraded forever, though at costs that get higher and higher. Be aware, the pace of upgrades do not match the pace of the difficulty increase, and death is inevitable.

Also introduced is the Curse mechanic. Rather than earning Relics, each time you defeat a boss you must choose a Curse which increases the difficulty in unique ways such as taking damage whenever you collect a credit or adding more enemies per wave.

OTHER IMPROVEMENTS

Added:

  • UI addition when getting an attachment synergy

  • Level transition animation

  • 16 Curses

  • Finish run button

  • Game auto pauses if alt-tabbed

  • Game no longer interactable if game not in focus

  • New explosion sounds for boss deaths

Changed:

  • CosmeticImproved level end UIshows more information and looks better
  • CosmeticImproved tutorialExplains the scoring system along with a few other smaller changes
  • Improved Challenge Level text effect

  • Pause Menu UI Overhaul

    • Color-coded and better organized stats

    • Reorganized UI elements to fit better and look better

  • Relic reroll increases with each reroll

  • Minor UI improvements in settings menu

  • Minor UI improvements to Codex

  • 4th Area boss

    • Boss health increased slightly

    • Shield heal amount: 500 -> 750

    • Shield goes away if Warships are destroyed

  • Increased base speed of all ships

  • Decreased speed bonus from speed booster attachment

  • Shotgun:

    • Doubled firerate and halved damage

    • Slightly increased shot speed

  • Relics:

    • Retaliation now has a 33% chance

    • Clean slate now has a 33% chance

Fixed:

Fixed incorrect text displayed for “Kill x enemies” challenge

Cursor disappearing after pause when

Source

Steam News / 9 August 2025

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