Stonewards Combat Guide: Melee, Ranged & Waves

Last verified: September 24, 2026 — Game version: Stonewards Early Access 0.2.2 hotfix on top of 0.2.0 “Later Summer” (current). Facts come from official Steam sources and verified player reports.

Combat in Stonewards alternates between quiet mining phases and timed enemy waves. The horn marks the start of each wave, and your goal is to protect the central gate or kingdom while using the resources you mined to survive.

The Wave Cycle

1. Mining phase — gather ore, gold, and items before the horn sounds.
2. Warning — the horn signals that the next wave is about to start.
3. Defense phase — enemies spawn and move toward your base.
4. Forging/repair — during the next gap, repair walls and buy upgrades.

Melee vs Ranged

Style	Classes	Strengths
Melee	Warrior, Miner	High sustained damage, can hold choke points, easier for solo
Ranged	Archer, Mage	Safe damage from walls, but charged attacks can feel slow early
Hybrid	Hunter	Companion provides extra damage while you move

Knockback & Crowd Control

Upgrade cards can add knockback to your attacks. This is one of the strongest defensive tools because it keeps monsters away from walls and can chain into other players’ attacks. Frontline classes should prioritize knockback when the forge offers it. Two later patches keep it in check: 0.1.7 reduced how much Knockback Chance you gain per upgrade, and 0.2.0 stops offering Knockback Chance and Dodge once they reach their maximum effective value, with Gold able to appear instead.

Wall Defense

The forge lets you repair walls and gates. Letting a wall fall exposes the objective, so assign someone to repair during lulls. Upgrades that increase wall toughness make repairs more efficient.

Co-op Combat Notes

• Teammate hits register in the game, but no patch note describes damage between players and a friendly-fire default is still not confirmed. 0.1.8 did fix an exploit where hitting teammates could trigger Life on Crit healing.
• Coordinated crowd control is more effective than splitting damage.
• Revive downed teammates at the campfire between waves.

For build advice, see our best builds tier list and multiplayer guide.

Combat Changes Since Hotfix 0.1.5

• Artificer bombs became a real weapon line. 0.2.0 made bomb damage scale with the Artificer’s Attack; 0.2.2 gave bombs the same damage calculations as other weapons, critical hits and the Berserker buff included.
• Healing projectiles gained a small AOE on impact (0.1.7), which fixed edge cases where a hit failed to register and lets Healers heal themselves by shooting at their feet. The Healer’s healing projectile and the Mage’s Fireball also got improved collision areas.
• Upgrade selection no longer locks you out. 0.1.6 fixed input becoming blocked during End-of-Wave and regular upgrade selections.
• A run-ending softlock was closed (0.1.7): dying just before the King defeated the boss could freeze the run.
• Stat scaling was reworked in 0.2.0. Values above 100% can trigger an effect more than once per activation, while Jump Height, Movement Speed, Sprint Speed, melee and ranged attack speed and Digging Speed now pay off less at extreme values. Knockback Chance and Dodge stop being offered at their maximum effective value.
• Multiplayer combat fixes: 0.2.1 fixed players staying input-locked after continuing into Endless, and 0.2.2 fixed the Game Over screen appearing while a downed teammate was already being revived on a Revive Bed.

From Community Gameplay

Live co-op footage adds a few combat observations that complement the official mechanics:

• Co-op is strongly recommended for combat. Solo combat was described as getting boring quickly, while higher difficulties throw multiple bosses at once (The Boys are Dwarves, 06:33 & 54:15).
• The Archer must craft arrows from wood, so keeping a wood supply flowing is essential for ranged damage (The Boys are Dwarves, 54:57).
• Stamina is more important than it first looks, especially when blocking and then following up with attacks (The Boys are Dwarves, 47:36).
• Ballistas can be built as automated defenses and do meaningful work against waves, including the smaller goblin-like enemies (The Boys are Dwarves, 05:25 & 50:52).
• Wall health upgrades and raw melee damage are both tempting forge choices; repairing walls costs stone and restores a set amount of HP (The Boys are Dwarves, 24:16 & 39:27).
• Forge upgrade cards include player attack, crit rate, armor, max health, and max stamina, so combat builds vary from run to run (The Boys are Dwarves, 02:57).

Sources

• The Boys are Dwarves (community gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-XuIMMYeW8
• Official Steam store page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4502710/
• Official Steam announcements hub: https://steamcommunity.com/games/4502710/announcements/
• Steam Community discussions: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4502710/discussions/

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