Wildlight Entertainment released The Farewell Tour, the final update for its short-lived hero shooter Highguard, on March 4, 2026—days before servers shut down on March 12. Developed by a voluntary skeleton crew, it adds account-wide progression, a new skill tree, the Switchback weapon, and playable Warden Koldo.
Following the March 3 shutdown announcement amid revenue shortfalls and player decline—as detailed in prior coverage—The Farewell Tour launched at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET. It introduces account progression, where players earn XP across matches up to level 100, granting skill points for a new tree with four branches:
- Raider: Boosts raid combat (e.g., extended ziplines, overshields from wall destruction).
- Harvester: Enhances Vesper gain and axe power (e.g., heavy swings for nodes, field crafting).
- Treasure Hunter: Improves looting (e.g., hidden chests, trading with Flynn).
- Protector: Strengthens defense (e.g., durable walls, unbreakable armor, ally spawns).
The Switchback is a versatile long-range double-barrel shotgun that transforms into a marksman rifle when aiming down sights for rapid or paced fire; gold variants are Basebreaker and Repeater.
New Warden Koldo, a lost soul in armor seeking his origins, features:
- Passive: Guardian Angel (protects ally orbs, auto-shields revives).
- Tactical: Soul Shield (deploys ally shield).
- Ultimate: Battle Cry (movable standard creating a health-regen dome).
Creative director Jason McCord shared that the skeleton crew crunched voluntarily in recent weeks, finishing partially developed features like the skill tree and Koldo despite limited players ('only a few thousand'). Compromises included missing skins and rushed testing. Studio head Chad Grenier reflected on launch pressures, while Wildlight thanked remaining players.
