Cruciball

Cruciball is Peglin's ascension system: 20 stacking difficulty levels, each unlocked by beating the game on the level before it. Every level adds one permanent hazard on top of all the previous ones, so a Cruciball 20 run carries every modifier at once.

How the levels stack

The early levels nibble at your economy and board — Lv. 1 starts you with a weakened Pebball, Lv. 3 and Lv. 5 strip a Crit Peg and a Refresh Peg from every board, and Lv. 8 cuts your starting gold to zero. The middle levels turn up enemy pressure: Lv. 6 and Lv. 10 inflate enemy and boss health, Lv. 7 and Lv. 13 gut your post-battle and post-boss healing, and Lv. 15 hands enemies a bonus turn every time you reload.

The back half is about surviving on thin margins — Lv. 14 starts you with 15% less Max HP, Lv. 11 and Lv. 16 saddle you with a useless Terriball and Horriball, Lv. 18 inflates Haglin's shop prices, and Lv. 20 makes every boss uniquely nastier. Clearing Cruciball 20 with each class is the game's true completion goal.

Approach

Lean on scaling orbs and relics that snowball past the inflated health pools, prioritise healing and Ballwark to absorb the extra enemy turns, and treat the dead-weight Terriball/Horriball as orbs to discard at the first shop.