Short answer: the Santa’s Workshop update is a clear upgrade for anyone who plays the event map or pushes endless waves — its new workshop-tier units do more work per placement slot than the previous version’s equivalents — but it’s roughly a sidegrade for players who stay on the standard map at normal difficulty, because the new units cost about 20–35% more in coins and Candy Canes and most of their bonuses only apply on the festive map. Per the game’s official patch notes, the update adds one event currency, one new map and a festive unit for every existing rarity tier, while quietly rebalancing most of the returning roster. The balance tweaks will matter more than the new units for the average mid-game account.
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Quick comparison: Santa’s Workshop vs the previous version
The table below compares the unit classes that actually decide a run by cost, cooldown and role. Values are rounded community-tracked averages from the first weeks of the update, not exact in-game numbers — hotfixes move them, so check the in-game index before you commit a full wallet.
| Unit class | Cost (coins) | Cooldown | Role | What changed in Santa’s Workshop | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap single-target | ~150 | 3.0 s | Early lane chip | Cooldown trimmed from ~3.5 s; cost unchanged | Still the correct first placement |
| Economy generator | ~300 | 7 s | Income | +1 resource per cycle, event map only | Buy on the event map, skip elsewhere |
| Wall / tank | ~275 | 12 s | Blocking | HP up roughly 15%, longer recharge after destruction | Net positive if you double-stack it |
| Mid-tier splash | ~650 | 9 s | Area damage | Splash falloff softened — full damage across a wider inner radius | Best value change in the whole update |
| Legendary sniper | ~1,800 | 22 s | Single-target burst | Damage up, cost up roughly 12%, cooldown unchanged | Only if your wall line is already solid |
| Mythic event unit (AoE + slow) | ~4,500 Candy Canes | 35 s | Control + damage | New — no direct predecessor | Strongest per-slot pick on the event map |
New units: what you’re actually buying
The mythic event unit is a control unit, not a damage unit
Its headline number is unimpressive next to the legendary sniper, and that trips people up. What makes it worth the Candy Canes is the stacking slow: on the Workshop map, the environmental freeze hazard and the unit’s slow aura overlap, which stretches the time each enemy spends inside every other unit’s damage window. That’s a multiplier on your whole board, not on one placement — which is exactly why it looks mediocre in a solo damage comparison and dominant in a real run.
The mid-tier splash rework is the sleeper buff
Widening the full-damage radius on splash units changes lane math more than any raw damage buff would. Two splash units placed two tiles apart now cover a continuous kill zone instead of a pair of overlapping circles with soft edges, so a formation that used to leak one enemy per wave typically stops leaking. If you already own a splash unit, you got a free upgrade.
The wall unit got tankier and less forgiving
The HP increase is real, but the longer recharge after destruction means a single mistimed block now costs you more tempo than it did in the previous version. Treat walls as a two-deep layer and cycle them; a single wall placed at the front is weaker than it was before the update despite the bigger health bar.
Is the event mythic worth the grind? A worked example
Assume a standard event run takes about 9 minutes and pays roughly 260 Candy Canes, or about 410 if you have a maxed wall line and can clear the harder tier. The mythic costs around 4,500.
- At 260 per run: 4,500 ÷ 260 ≈ 17.3 runs ≈ 2.6 hours of event play.
- At 410 per run: 4,500 ÷ 410 ≈ 11 runs ≈ 1.6 hours.
- After you buy it: the stacking slow cuts a typical run to roughly 7 minutes, which raises your earn rate to about 335–530 per hour-band. The next 4,500 Candy Canes therefore takes about 12–13 runs instead of 17.
So the purchase pays for itself after roughly 30–35 additional runs — worth it if you plan to keep farming the event, and a waste if you only wanted the cosmetic reward. Note the reasoning behind the order: the wall line is what unlocks the 410-per-run tier, so buying the wall first is what makes the mythic cheap. Buying the mythic first makes the grind longer, not shorter.
Map changes: the Workshop map rewards a different layout
The new map is longer and narrower than the previous version’s event map, with two chokepoints instead of three and a periodic freeze hazard that passes through the middle lanes. The practical consequences:
- Longer path, slower enemies: slow effects get more total value per cast, which is why control units jumped in priority.
- Two chokepoints: you can concentrate splash coverage instead of spreading it, so a two-splash formation replaces the previous three-splash standard.
- Freeze hazard: units in the middle lanes lose uptime on a fixed cycle. Placing your highest-damage unit on an outer lane avoids the downtime entirely — a placement rule the old map never needed.
Balance tweaks that change your existing roster
The patch notes describe the intent as “normalizing cooldowns and flattening cost outliers,” and the effect is that cheap units got relatively better and expensive units got relatively worse in raw cost-per-damage terms. Three changes matter most. First, the cooldown trim on cheap single-target units means early-game placement is faster, which compounds into a stronger opening economy. Second, the cost increase on the legendary sniper pushes it later in a run, so it’s now a wave-12 purchase rather than a wave-8 one. Third, the splash falloff change silently buffs any board that already runs two or more area units. If your old build relied on a single expensive sniper carrying the mid-game, it is measurably weaker than it was before the update even though nothing about that unit was nerfed on paper.
Which unit should you chase first? Decision matrix
| Your situation | Buy first | Why | Skip for now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand-new account | Cheap single-target + economy generator | Fastest path to a stable opening; both are cheap and the generator pays for the rest | Mythic event unit |
| Mid-game, 2–3 legendaries | Mid-tier splash | Cheapest change that stops wave leaks on the new two-chokepoint map | Second sniper |
| Maxed base roster | Mythic event unit | You already clear the hard tier at ~410 per run, so the grind is short | Cosmetics |
| Co-op carry | Wall unit, then mythic | You’re the one holding the line; the HP bump matters more than your damage | Extra economy |
| Limited play time | Mid-tier splash only | Highest return per coin spent; the mythic needs 11+ runs to justify | Everything else |
If you only take one number away: a mid-tier splash unit at roughly 650 coins does more for a typical account than a legendary sniper at roughly 1,800, and the update widened that gap rather than closing it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Santa’s Workshop update free to play?
Yes — the update is a free content drop, and the new map, units and balance changes are available to every player who installs the current version. The event currency, Candy Canes, is earned by playing the Workshop map rather than bought outright, though the game does sell cosmetic bundles separately. Nothing in the update gates core progression behind a purchase.
Do the new units stay after the event ends?
Per the official patch notes, units you unlock during the event remain in your roster permanently; what expires is the event map and the Candy Cane earn rate. That’s the main argument for buying the mythic sooner rather than later, since its value is highest while the event map is still live. Any leftover Candy Canes typically convert to standard currency at the end of the event, usually at an unfavorable rate.
Should I buy the mythic unit or several cheaper units first?
Cheaper units first, almost always. The wall line is what lets you clear the harder tier and earn roughly 410 Candy Canes per run instead of 260, which cuts the mythic grind by about six runs. Buying the mythic first means you’re farming at the slow rate for longer, so the “cheaper units first” order is faster even though it looks like a detour.
Did the update nerf any existing units?
Nothing was nerfed outright, but the relative value shifted. The legendary sniper’s cost went up roughly 12%, so it now arrives later in a run, and single-target builds that leaned on one expensive carry are weaker than they were. Meanwhile cheap units, splash units and walls all improved. If your old build feels worse after the update, that’s why.
How long does it take to unlock the mythic event unit?
At roughly 260 Candy Canes per 9-minute run, expect about 2.5–3 hours of event play; with a maxed wall line at roughly 410 per run, closer to 1.5–2 hours. Those figures assume normal difficulty and no event multipliers, and they move with hotfixes. Playing in a coordinated group shortens it further because runs finish faster.
Is the new map harder than the previous one?
It’s harder in a specific way rather than uniformly. The freeze hazard and the narrower layout punish players who spread damage across three lanes, but the longer path and two chokepoints reward concentrated splash and slow effects. Players who adapt their formation usually find it easier than the old event map; players who reuse their old three-lane layout find it noticeably harder.
