Original pixel-art heroes approaching an arcane citadel

Free Heroes of Hammerwatch II endgame tool

NateBera's
NG Ascension

Automate the climb. Respect the game.

A free NG-pushing script for veteran players who have reached the end of the natural grind. Connect to the hosted embera mule, automate repeatable ascensions, and explore how far endgame scaling can go—on your own terms and with respect for everyone else's experience.

100%free forever
v2AutoHotkey
emberarequired mule
Gameplay risk · read first

Before you automate: ask whether removing the climb will also remove the point of playing. NG pushing can bypass the challenge, reward, discovery, and sense of achievement that give progression meaning. It may leave the game feeling empty or directionless, and that change can be difficult to emotionally “undo”—even if you restore an older save. Use this only at your own discretion, when you believe your natural journey is complete.

The ascent protocol

One mule. One main character.
A repeatable endgame loop.

The script joins embera's stationary boss arena, advances the selected character, completes the local transition, and repeats. Major states are detected visually rather than trusted to blind timers.

Before anything else

Back up your save profile.

Use the game's Save Profiles feature and keep a separate copy before starting NG cheese. Protect the character history you earned normally.

Get AutoHotkey v2 ↗
01

Add the hosted mule

For the script to work reliably, add the Steam account embera as a friend from the account you want to level. The easiest method is to join embera's public game first, then send a friend request through Steam. NateBera already hosts embera inside the target boss arena, so you do not need to create a VM or purchase a second copy of the game.

SOpen embera's Steam profileJoin the public game, then send a friend request
02

Extract the downloaded ZIP first

Do not run the launcher from inside the ZIP preview. Right-click NateBera-NG-Ascension.zip, choose Extract All…, select a normal folder, and click Extract. Open the new extracted folder before running Start-NateBera-NG-Ascension.cmd. Running directly from the ZIP creates a temporary path and causes the “Script file not found” error.

03

Install AutoHotkey v2

Install AutoHotkey v2 on your main PC. The script uses it to control your Steam Friends window and your main Heroes of Hammerwatch II game window.

Care

Shared-arena housekeeping

Turn your pets off

Before starting, disable or unequip pets and summons. They can remain inside the shared mule arena after a cycle, accumulate over time, and interfere with embera. The mule is reset daily, but keeping pets off helps the service remain reliable for everyone.

Pets and summons offCheck again whenever you change character or build.
05

Open Steam Friends & Chat and lock the layout

In the main Steam window, click Friends & Chat in the bottom-right corner. This opens the separate Steam Friends window that must sit beside the game during calibration and every automated cycle.

Steam client with an arrow pointing to the Friends and Chat button in the bottom-right cornerOpen Friends & ChatFind it in the bottom-right corner of Steam · Click to enlarge

Set Heroes of Hammerwatch II to 1024×768 in Windowed mode. After changing these settings, you may need to close the game normally and open it again so the settings are saved correctly. Before calibrating, confirm that the game reopens in Windowed mode at 1024×768. Then center the game window, keep Steam Friends beside it, search for embera, and leave that filtered friend row visible.

If the game reopens at the wrong size or in fullscreen: select Windowed and 1024×768 again, exit through the game's normal Quit option, and relaunch it before continuing.

Heroes of Hammerwatch II graphics menu showing 1024 by 768 resolution and Windowed modeGame display settingsResolution: 1024×768 · Fullscreen: Windowed · Restart normally and verify · Click to enlarge
06

Follow the script prompts and calibrate once

With the script window still open, follow its calibration list. Set your desktop up exactly like the example: game window centered, Steam Friends beside it, and embera typed into the Steam Friends search box. Keeping the list filtered to embera is essential because it keeps the friend row in the same place and makes the saved calibration reliable. Leave that search active whenever the script runs.

Calibration simply records where your mouse is pointing. Hover over each target—do not click it—then press the matching shortcut shown in the script.

Steam Friends filtered to embera with the right-click Join Game option visible beside the windowed gameCorrect desktop arrangementGame centered · Steam Friends beside it · embera filtered · Join Game visible · Click to enlarge
One-time calibrationHover → press shortcut → move to the next target
  1. Ctrl + Alt + 1
    Filtered embera friend row

    First type embera into the Steam Friends search box and leave it there. Close the right-click menu, hover over embera's filtered friend entry, then press the shortcut. Do not calibrate from the unfiltered friends list.

    Steam Friends search box filtered to emberaRequired: search for embera and leave the filtered row visible
  2. Ctrl + Alt + 2
    Join Game

    Right-click the filtered embera row, hover directly over the Join Game menu item, then press the shortcut.

    Steam Friends context menu with Join Game highlighted for emberaExample: hover directly over Join Game
  3. Ctrl + Alt + 3
    Optional top-left character card

    Usually unnecessary because the script calculates the top-left card automatically. If automatic selection misses, hover over the center of the top-left character card only and press the shortcut.

    Character selection screen with the mouse hovering over the top-left character cardExample: hover over the top-left card
  4. Ctrl + Alt + 4
    Singleplayer button

    With the game on its main menu, hover directly over the gold Singleplayer text and press the shortcut.

    Gold Singleplayer button on the Heroes of Hammerwatch II main menuExample: hover over the gold Singleplayer text
  5. Ctrl + Alt + 5
    Gold Yes button

    Open the resume-run question, hover directly over the gold Yes text, and press the shortcut.

    Resume run confirmation with the mouse hovering over the gold Yes textExample: hover over the gold Yes text

Important: keep embera in the search box and keep the game and Steam Friends in these same positions after calibration. If the search is cleared or either window moves, restore the layout or rerun the affected shortcut. The script remembers the saved points between launches.

07

Choose the character you want to push

Before starting the bot, prepare the character you want to level: select that character, enter any normal run, then abandon the run. This moves the character into the top-left character position used by the supported workflow. Normally, you do not need to calibrate the character card. Never calibrate a different slot unless you deliberately want the script to keep selecting that exact position. Read the character-selection guide →

08

Test, then ascend

Press F8 for one watched test cycle. When it completes cleanly, press F9 for repeating cycles. F9 pauses; F10 exits the bot without closing your game.

Operational controls

Simple enough to stop instantly.

The script includes launch detection, retry recovery, a five-minute cooldown after repeated Steam launch failures, and state checks for character selection, gameplay, and mission completion. External factors can still interrupt long or overnight sessions, so check the bot regularly. Continuous unattended operation is never guaranteed.

F5Choose your monitor
F6Change speedStarts on recommended Normal
F7Choose number of cycles
F8Run one test cycle
F9Start or pause repeating
F10Emergency stopImmediately kills the script completely. Your game stays open.

The endgame code

Power without ruining somebody else's run.

This is an endgame experiment, but that does not mean you must avoid newer players. Join respectfully, understand what kind of help they actually want, and protect the moments they deserve to experience themselves. Never jump in and erase a first clear, kill their final boss for them, or trivialize their progression without permission.

Choose your own finish line carefully. A useful benchmark is roughly 200–300 hours, but the real answer depends on you and how you want to experience the game. This process can flatten the progression curve so completely that playing no longer feels meaningful. Proceed only at your own discretion.

Protect your history. Back up a save profile before the first automated push and before experimenting with infinite-resource methods.

Respect every lobby. Playing with newer players is fine—just follow their lead. Ask before carrying, avoid deleting bosses or milestones they have never completed, and do not force extreme progression on anyone who did not request it.

Own what you use. Each Steam account needs its own legitimate game access. The project is free, not a licensing workaround.

Field notes

More endgame experiments are coming.

Available now

GUIDE 02

Manual NG+ Method

Do one ascension at a time through embera's public lobby without installing or running the script.

Open manual guide ↗
In development

GUIDE 04

Infinite Resources

A documented endgame experiment with boundaries, backups, and clear recovery instructions.

In development

GUIDE 05

Effortless Leveling

A controlled guide for high-NG characters whose normal leveling path has become impractical.

Ready for the far end?

Ascend responsibly.

Free to use. Not for profit. No warranty. Built as a community endgame experiment.

This script is always free. If anybody charged you money for it, ask that seller for a refund.