Claws Of Power Hard Mode

Steam’s August 19, 2026 countdown is blunt: the full release has 6 regions and 93 standard levels. After you complete the main campaign you unlock another 44 Hard Mode levels. Finishing the game is “only the beginning of the next round of feline warfare,” and those 44 stages come at no extra cost.

That is the unlock rule. This wiki will not invent a Hard Mode key, a gem gate, or a Monday reset.

What changed after launch

The August 23, 2026 patch is the Hard Mode patch:

• Gold drops in Hard Mode have been doubled.
• Midas Touch was added as starter equipment: equipped, enemies drop twice as much gold.
• Jack Fusion (upgraded) gained HP and Attack.
• Xuebao’s deployment cost dropped by 1.
• A-Dai, Fat Cat, Xiaofu, and Big Orange gained an extra equipment slot.

Wear Midas Touch in Hard Mode. That is the loop the patch notes themselves advertise: “Equip Midas Touch and start raking in the gold.”

Gold matters because main-city talents spend gold, mercenaries spend gold, and the Shop is where Garrison Whistle arrives. Hard Mode is how you fund the systems described in Buildings and Talents after the story stops handing Base EXP as generously.

The August 25 patch increased Base EXP from main story stages. That buff is for the campaign. Hard Mode is the gold side of the same progression coin.

How to play the 44 without tilting

Hard Mode is the same single lane with nastier numbers. The developer’s two habits still win:

• Hold dried fish and send waves.
• Keep the fight near your base so backups arrive.

Bring cats that survived the campaign, not a fresh 1-cost-only board:

• Xuebao is cheaper after August 23 — a gift on a tighter Hard curve.
• Xiao Fu knockback still stops heavies from walking into your archer.
• Big Ju self-heal is more valuable when waves last longer.
• Solo piercing shots punish the clumps Hard Mode likes to send.
• Jack Hero via the buffed fusion device is a legitimate Hard tank-and-hit if you stored Jacks.

Items: Garrison Whistle to freeze survivors, Charge Horn only to finish, Meow Mine when you know the pattern. See How to Use Items.

Hard Mode is not Endless, not ranked, not a season

• Endless Duanzang / Endless Boss is a boss-stage survival mode from the Next Fest notes, with in-run upgrades and one-time items. A launch-week patch fixed damage failing for a short time after an Endless Boss advanced a tier. That mode is covered on Lord Challenge.
• Secret Stages had their own difficulty pass. They are not the 44 Hard levels.
• There is no Hard ranked ladder. Steam’s category list is still single-player.

Farming without fake timers

No official post lists a Hard Mode daily cap. Play until you have the gold for the next talent or mercenary. Steam Cloud (demo update, then full release) keeps the save. Game speed is saved as of August 26; do not assume 3× on a secret-adjacent Hard node — August 27 isolated secret-level speed.

If gold is not dropping, confirm Midas Touch is actually equipped (August 29 fixed missing equipment for some players) and that you are on a Hard node, not a leftover campaign replay.

Suggested order after the credits

1. Equip Midas Touch. Use the map equipment shortcut.
2. Sweep early Hard nodes with the campaign deck to fund talents.
3. Spend extra slots on A-Dai / Fat Cat / Xiaofu / Big Orange.
4. Mix in Jack Fusion if Jacks are still in the list.
5. When a Hard node feels like a named boss, treat it as Lord Challenge practice, not a different game mode.

Region names remain swamp, desert, snowfield, and city plus two unnamed regions. Hard Mode reuses that geography with the 44-stage overlay; Steam did not publish a separate Hard map art.