Stonewards Guides

Stonewards runs on a three-beat loop: dig, forge, defend. Between monster waves, your squad drops into procedurally generated mines to gather resources. You haul them back to the bastion to craft supplies, repair walls, and pick randomized upgrades. Then the horn sounds and you hold the line. These guides explain each beat for the current Steam Early Access build.

The core loop

1. Dig. Enter the procedural mines between waves. Cave layout, ore, and dangers change every run.
2. Forge. Spend resources at the bastion — craft ammo and supplies, repair defenses, and choose upgrades. Upgrade offers are randomized, so every run asks a fresh build question.
3. Defend. When the wave comes, hold the dwarven kingdom's walls. Fallen teammates can be brought back at the campfire, so a wipe is usually a positioning and preparation failure, not the end.

What changes between runs

Characters, maps, randomized upgrades, rings, and team roles all vary run to run. The August 18, 2026 hotfix (0.1.6) already rebalanced the character screen, Endless Mode, Mage and Healer, revive behavior, and Map 2 — during Early Access, treat any specific number or tier claim as a snapshot of one patch.

Start with these pages

• Gameplay — how a full run plays out, from first dig to the final wave.
• Characters — the roster, what's confirmed, and how squad roles split.
• Builds — per-run upgrade priorities and forge choices.
• Maps & Mining — hub, bastion layouts, and mine-route principles.
• How to Revive — campfire revival and carrying fallen wardens.
• Co-op & 2 Players — running a two-player squad.
• Game Info — release date, price, platforms, and co-op facts, all sourced from official pages.
• Troubleshooting — what to check when you can't join a friend's game or the build crashes.

How we verify

Every guide states which patch it was checked against. Where a mechanic comes from demo-era patch notes instead of the Early Access build, we label it as demo-era and unverified for the current version.