Fortress Merge Maps and Stages

Fortress Merge does not hand you the same lane every run. Campaign maps rotate obstacles, terrain types, and lane shapes. Some maps end at wave 10. Others stretch to wave 13 with a mid-boss around wave 8. This page is the field guide for every battlefield you will see.

Wave counts

Most campaign maps run 10 waves with a boss on wave 10. Milestone maps — the ones that end in 0 or 5 further into the list — run 13 waves with a boss around wave 8 and another on wave 13. The HUD tells you which clock you are on: Wave 8/10 or Wave 8/13. Read that before you place.

Fortress Merge gameplay walkthrough showing different map layouts

Standard lane maps

The most common layout: a single horizontal lane with the castle at the back, enemies walking left-to-right. Trees block tiles near the front. Clear two trees on round 1 and keep the castle off the lane. Walls go on the entrance tile. This is the baseline; everything below is a variation on the same rule.

Terrain types

Sandy lane — the default desert battlefield shown in most screenshots. Slimes, skeletons, and giants walk the same paths. No special rules; watch the first wave at 1x and place walls accordingly.

Ice river — a frozen stream crosses part of the lane. Enemies that cross ice move slightly faster. Stall harder on ice maps: extra barricades, wider Tesla coverage, and do not place a mine on the frozen tile.

Graveyard — tombstones dot the battlefield. The Graveyard building (which you can place) interacts with dead enemies for bonus effects. Enemy pathing is unchanged; the obstacle is visual and tactical. Enemies do not spawn from the gravestones.

Palms — tropical maps with palm trees as obstacles. Same tile-blocking rules as trees. Clear the palms that sit on the lane first. Back-row placement is less cramped on palm maps.

Obstacle tiles

Trees, tombstones, ice patches, and palms all cost gold to clear. Round 1 gold should buy tile space, not a luxury reroll. Leave at least two empty squares so the next shop can land without forcing an emergency sell. The gold guide covers when to stop clearing.

Boss wave maps

On 13-wave maps, the mid-boss around wave 8 is a harder version of the wave 10 boss on a 10-wave map. You do not get a shop phase between the mid-boss and the final boss — prep before wave 8 and hold that layout. Skills spent on building HP or cooldown matter more here than on a standard map.

Adapting placement

The placement guide is written for the standard lane. On any variant:

1. Watch one full wave at 1x speed before committing walls.
2. Identify the true entrance — sometimes there are two on maps with branching paths.
3. Move the castle to the back row regardless of terrain.
4. Count tiles between the entrance and the castle. If the lane is short, you need less stall and more damage. If the lane is long, stack walls and Teslas.

Related pages

• Getting started — first board setup.
• Placement strategy — wall and turret positions.
• Boss guide — wave 10 and 13-wave conversions.
• Building tier list — what to place on a tight map.