Depths of Illusive Realm — Wuthering Waves

A run is a linear chain of Memory Zones. It always opens with Memory of Beginning — a setup zone where you pick one Echo, one Resonator Upgrade and one Metaphor from three separate NPCs — and always closes with Memory of Endgame, a mandatory boss fight. In between sits a variable mix of combat, timed-gauntlet, defense-objective, narrative-choice, rest and optional mid-boss zones.

Before entering a difficulty, you can raise a reward-rate dial (higher rate = harder run, better payout) — a risk/reward choice made up front rather than mid-run. Getting defeated partway through ends the run early but still banks the reward for every zone already cleared, so a failed run is not a total loss.

The mode's original 2024 release documented 5 difficulty tiers (Difficulty I–V), each recommending a higher character level and drawing its mandatory Endgame boss from a wider pool at higher tiers — Difficulty V could roll among three possible bosses versus one at the lowest tier. Difficulty therefore scales both raw challenge and boss variety, not just enemy stats.

Later 2026 event runs instead describe progress as a sequence of named stages ("Surface of Illusions" ×2–3, then one "Depth of Illusions") plus the separate reward-rate dial from the section above — a sign the underlying difficulty structure has been revised since 2024. We report both instead of merging them into one number, since neither of our sources confirms which structure is currently live.

Three separate pickup types exist: Illusive Echoes (relic-like gear chosen at the run's start, with an "Illusification" upgrade track that lets a chosen Echo be strengthened in stages across the run), Metaphors (the main buff cards, awarded for clearing most combat zones, breaking destructibles, defeating bosses or picking certain dialogue options), and Resonator Upgrades (character-specific power boosts picked at "Gatekeeper" NPCs, guaranteed after every boss fight).

Pickups are chosen from a set of offered options rather than handed out automatically. A separate in-run currency, Dream Fragments (earned from destructibles and dialogue), can be spent at an "Ebony Gatekeeper" NPC to convert into extra Metaphors — the closest thing to a reroll. None of these three pickup types carry over between separate runs: only the chosen character's account-level stats (level, Resonance Chain, equipped weapon) persist, while permanent account-wide upgrades to the mode itself are unlocked separately by spending "Memory Points" earned from clearing runs.

Clearing a difficulty grants two account-level currencies: Memory Points (spent on permanent account upgrades to the mode itself) and Illusive Specimens (spent in a dedicated event-only shop). That shop trades Specimens for premium currency, upgrade materials, Echo-class tokens, crafting materials and basic gold-equivalent currency — each with its own purchase cap. On top of that, a one-time achievement-style checklist ("Anomaly Investigation") pays out extra currency or unique tokens for objectives like clearing at a raised reward rate, clearing with several different characters, or beating a set number of a given boss type.

Because reward-rate is a lever you choose before the run (see above), the same difficulty can pay out more if cleared at a higher selected rate — several checklist objectives specifically require clearing at an elevated rate rather than the default. Unused event currency does not carry into the next patch: it expires when the event run ends.

The mode's original release catalogued 10 Memory Zone archetypes beyond the fixed opening/closing zones: straightforward combat, a training zone that guarantees a free Resonator Upgrade, a two-battle "Fierce Struggle", a timed or defense-objective "Deathmatch", pure narrative "Unknown" zones with dialogue choices (some trading a slice of current HP for extra reward), a 7-wave defense gauntlet, a rest stop, and an optional mid-run boss ("Calamity") on top of the mandatory Endgame boss.

Enemies are graded into 3 classes — Common, Elite and Overlord (bosses only) — and the same three-tier language is reused for the Echo-token rewards in the shop. Both the optional Calamity boss and the mandatory Endgame boss share a 3-minute enrage timer: running past it sharply raises the boss's attack, an explicit soft-enrage rule rather than a fixed HP number. Destructible props scattered through most zones give bonus Dream Fragments or Metaphors as an optional side-objective.