The Evershifting Tower is the biggest addition in Temtem: Swarm Version 1.0, and it changes the game in ways that go well beyond just adding a new map. The layout reshuffles every run, two new playable Temtems are waiting to be mastered, and a Hacking Level system lets you crank the difficulty until things get genuinely punishing. Whether you're running this on a desktop or on a Steam Deck from the couch, here's everything you need to know to survive and thrive.
What is the Evershifting Tower?
The Evershifting Tower is a roguelite area where the floor layout changes every time you enter. According to the official Temtem wiki, once you catch a wild Temtem in a room, the tall grass disappears and you cannot catch any more wild Temtem from that specific room. That means your catch windows are limited per run, and you need to prioritize which rooms you engage with carefully.
The Steam achievement data from SteamHunters confirms that clearing at least 7 Spots in the Tower in a single match unlocks the Digital tourist achievement, which only 13 of 20 tracked players have earned so far. That completion rate tells you this is not a casual stroll.
Tower layout shifts every run
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Prioritize rooms with wild Temtem early in a run. Once the tall grass is gone, that catch opportunity is gone for good.
Who is the boss of the Evershifting Tower?
Volgon, the Divine Dragon, reigns over the Evershifting Tower. The Steam achievement list from SteamHunters notes that defeating Volgon unlocks The Divine Dragon falls achievement, while beating Volgon in under 80 seconds earns the much rarer Rider of a stubborn dragon trophy. As of the latest tracked data, only 7 of 20 players have pulled off the speed kill, making it one of the hardest timed challenges in the game.
The tower also features three boosted mini-bosses that must be cleared before Volgon appears. As confirmed in the Steam Community news for Temtem: Swarm, these three sensational mini-bosses give way to the proud, fearsome boss that reigns over the skies. Treat each mini-boss seriously because they are damage checks in disguise.
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Do not skip damage upgrades in the early floors expecting to burst Volgon down. The 80-second speed kill requires a fully optimized build, not a survival-focused one.
New Temtems in Version 1.0: Venks and Chromeon
Version 1.0 shipped with two brand-new playable Temtems. Both bring completely different playstyles, and picking the wrong one for your preferred approach will cost you runs.
Venks: the melee brawler with two evolution paths
Venks starts as a melee-focused fighter, which feels slow compared to ranged options. The real depth comes from its two evolution branches, as documented by gamingonsteam.com's hands-on testing:
- Vental transforms Venks into a fast, ranged attacker. Switching to this path requires a full build reskill since the melee-focused upgrades you picked up early will not carry over effectively.
- Venmet leans hard into tanking and melee damage. The glitch mechanics interact with this build in ways that can backfire if you pick up the wrong glitches. The risk-reward element is real.
Steam achievements confirm both paths: Use your brains! requires winning a match with Vental, while Use your fists! requires winning with Venmet. The hidden achievement Choice paralysis rewards winning a match without evolving Venx (the base form), which only 7 of 20 tracked players have managed.
Chromeon: the fast skirmisher with no evolutions
Chromeon takes the opposite design philosophy. No evolutions, but a large pool of swappable abilities. Testing documented by gamingonsteam.com highlights its ultimate ability as a massive spark boost that clears everything in the immediate area. Chromeon rewards players who experiment with ability combinations rather than following a linear upgrade path.
The tradeoff is that Chromeon's power ceiling depends entirely on which abilities you find in a given run. A bad ability pool can leave you underpowered heading into Volgon.
How does the Hacking Level system work?
Once the base game starts feeling manageable, the Hacking Level system lets you manually stack difficulty modifiers. According to gamingonsteam.com's coverage of Version 1.0, you can boost enemy HP, increase enemy movement speed, add extra mini-bosses, or reduce your own maximum health. These modifiers stack, so combining several at once creates genuinely brutal conditions.
This system is separate from the Tower itself but pairs well with it. Running the Evershifting Tower on elevated Hacking Levels is the current end-game loop for players who have cleared the standard content.
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The Hacking Level system also increases replayability for the prestige grind. Hitting prestige resets a portion of your progress, so stacking difficulty modifiers while under-leveled is a fast way to end a run early.
Progression: skill trees and the prestige system
Version 1.0's skill tree is the largest the game has seen. You unlock abilities and stat boosts through normal play, but the prestige system adds a long-term layer on top. Reaching a prestige threshold unlocks new Temtem variations, though it does partially reset your progress. Your characters retain some leveling, but you will need to re-grind portions of your build.
The achievement list on SteamHunters includes several technique mastery achievements added with Update 4 (released March 30, 2026), including Crystal Master, Electric Master, Water Master, and others requiring you to unlock all techniques of a given type. These are long-term goals that feed directly into the prestige loop.
Skill tree depth rewards planning
Steam Deck settings for the Evershifting Tower
The Tower's late-floor chaos is harder on hardware than earlier zones. Based on hands-on testing by gamingonsteam.com using a pre-release build of Version 1.0, the default High graphics preset causes frame drops when particle effects peak. These settings deliver a stable 60 FPS for the vast majority of runs:
Battery draw sits around 15 watts in quieter early floors, climbing to 18-20 watts during heavy late-game fights. On a full charge, expect roughly 3 hours of play. The 800p resolution matches the Steam Deck's native display, keeping visuals sharp without wasting processing headroom.
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Cap your framerate at 60 rather than leaving it uncapped. Uncapped framerates in late Tower floors can cause thermal throttling on the Steam Deck, which produces worse average performance than a clean 60 FPS cap.
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