The Naturalist Update is the final free content drop for Ball x Pit, and it landed on August 6, 2026. It adds two unlockable characters, eleven new balls, five new passives, and fourteen new evolutions. Everything here is unlocked the same way it always has been, by finding blueprints for the characters and by mixing the right balls or passives together during a run.
Quick answer: Build the Ball House blueprint to unlock The Ballbearer and the Unstable Tower blueprint to unlock The Hoary Hoarder. For the new evolutions, combine two matching balls or passives in a single run. Elemental is the exception and needs four different balls.
Unlock the two new characters with blueprints
Both characters are tied to blueprints you find while exploring stages, then construct in your base. Once a blueprint is built, its character joins your roster and can be selected before a run. The two new picks pull in opposite directions, which makes each one ideal for chasing a different set of evolutions.
| Character | Gimmick | Blueprint | Where it was found |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Ballbearer | Double the ball slots (up to ten), no passive items | Ball House | The Vast x Void |
| The Hoary Hoarder | Two ball slots, but twice as many passive slots | Unstable Tower | The Heavenly x Gates |
Blueprint drops are not fixed, so your locations may differ from the stages listed above. Keep clearing stages until each blueprint appears, then return to your base to build it.
Tip: The Ballbearer is the fastest way to farm ball evolutions because you can hold up to ten balls at once. The Hoary Hoarder is built for passive evolutions, since its extra passive slots let you carry the pieces you need to combine.
All new passive evolutions and their recipes
The update introduces one brand-new passive, the Platinum Dumbbell, along with four new passive evolutions. Only one of those evolutions uses the new passive. The other three are built entirely from items that already existed, so you can start hunting them right away. Combine the two listed passives in the same run and the evolution forms automatically.
| Evolution | Passive 1 | Passive 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Ardent Tire | Rubber Headband | Wagon Wheel |
| Inglorious Hammer | Platinum Dumbbell | Upturned Hatchet |
| Remote Detonator | Magnet | Pressure Valve |
| Windweaver | Bottled Tornado | Slingshot |
The Hoary Hoarder is the best character for clearing this list. With its extra passive slots you can carry both halves of a recipe and often chase two evolutions in a single run.
New ball evolutions and how to reach them
There are ten new ball evolutions in this update. Five of them require the new basic ball introduced alongside them, so you will need to pick that ball up during a run before those combinations can form. The rest are made by fusing balls you already have access to.
Elemental stands out from every other evolution in the game. Instead of merging two balls, it requires four different balls. On its own it is not a heavy hitter, but it becomes useful once you fuse it with certain high-tier evolutions. Running The Ballbearer makes this far more manageable, since its ten ball slots give you room to hold all four components at the same time.
Endless Mode is the ideal place to grind toward the trickier fusions. Long runs give you enough time to pick up every ball a recipe calls for and then let the evolutions trigger once the pieces are together.
What the new balls and passives do
Alongside the evolution recipes, the update brings a set of new balls with distinct behaviors and several new passives that reward specific play. The standout effects are listed below.
| New ball | Effect |
|---|---|
| Lightning Bug | Spawns a firefly on every bounce that seeks the strongest enemy, then zaps nearby targets with lightning. |
| Mosquito Kingdom | Spawns one or two mosquitoes on hit that chase the weakest enemy for 100-150 damage; a killing blow heals you slightly. |
| Drill | Pierces straight through enemies from behind and deals extra damage as it passes. |
| Flesh | Starts at half damage but speeds up with every bounce until it tears across the screen. |
| Armageddon | Marks a target on hit, then rains flaming meteors that hit every enemy within a three-tile radius. |
| New passive | Effect |
|---|---|
| Platinum Dumbbell | Gives balls a damage boost that lasts until they hit the back wall, rewarding clean shots. |
| Inglorious Hammer | After a ball hits a wall or the back of the arena, it immediately strikes a random enemy for reduced damage. |
| Remote Detonator | Spawns a level 1 Bomb Ball whenever an enemy dies, keeping a chain of explosions going. |
How to confirm you unlocked everything
A character is unlocked the moment its blueprint finishes construction in your base and it shows up on the character select screen. An evolution counts as discovered as soon as the two required balls or passives combine during a run, and it is then recorded in your collection. If an evolution refuses to form, the usual cause is a missing component. Elemental in particular needs all four balls present at once, and the five new ball evolutions cannot appear until you have picked up the new basic ball.
Since this is the last planned free update, working through both characters and the full evolution list rounds out everything the game has to offer. Start by building both blueprints, keep the two new characters handy for their specialties, and use Endless Mode to fill in any recipes you have not triggered yet.
