This is another update that we had planned for February, but came out a bit later than expected, but it has a wide variety of new content, QOL, and fixes.

New Maps :
Lovers Paradise
-  Rewards: Bow of Hearts, Spear of Hearts, Heart Fragment (campaign only), a random Temple of Love accessory, and a chance for a Shield of Hearts
- Survival Pets: Cupid at Wave 25, New Hamster at Wave 30, Fluffy Dragon at map completion 
Crystal Escort: Wandering Heart
- Rewards: Staff of Hearts, Sword of Hearts, Heart Fragment, a random Temple of Love accessory and guaranteed a Shield of Hearts

New Items :
You can use 88 Heart Fragments on the new forge on the Tavern’s second floor to spawn a Crystal Heart
The new Hearts weapons do Love Damage. It’s generic damage that has pink damage numbers
The staff of Hearts, Spear of Hearts, and Sword of Hearts have a 10% movement speed increase 
The staff of Hearts right-click heals allies instead of doing AoE damage
Shield of Hearts heals a percentage of your health on successfully blocking damage
New Hamster, Steam Robot, and Cupid

Quality of Life :
- Removed the ship from Striking Tree and moved the spawn to the center of the map
- Gas and Darkness traps now reset when entering a build phase
- Healing pets no longer try to heal you when they can’t
-  You can now see the lab assault EV bosses on the minimap
- Added hysteresis to trip wire towers (buff beam, reflection beam, etc), which can be toggled with “Control + B”. This means they snap to the max length for each DU option
- Added more Ultimate++ armor seeds
- Staff left + right click charges to 70%
- Made most events unsellable. The only exceptions are Admiral Djinn, Blu, and Aladdin’s Wish
- Made the practice dummy more accurate the longer you attack it for
- Tentatively made all the skins that unlock on only Insane difficulty or under also unlock on Nightmare
- Made Summoner’s Overlord Mode ability not get canceled/prevented from use on map completion, letting people use it to pick up items that drop on the last wave
- Made it possible for weapons from this patch onward to have a fire rate higher than 10 shots per second
- Split screen status ( Hidden / Shown ) doesn’t get changed on in-game cinematics
 - True Boss Rush now has a working timer
- The upgrade tower ability now prioritizes towers that you have enough mana to upgrade
- Prioritisation of towers in the upgrade tower ability is now customizable from UDKCDTSettings.ini
- Added config option to bring back old upgrade tower behavior
- Shift/Ctrl upgrading a hero stat on cats now upgrades boost/range/number of players for you
- You now get an experience orb as a one-time reward upon getting the Ultimate Defender achievement
- Minimum lobby level requirement is now saved
- Level rewards are no longer automatically locked when they get added to your inventory
- Added unequip all button to hero info UI
- Call of arms now has an indicator when activated, similar to hero and tower boost
- Made unearned achievement appear first when inspecting the crystal

Bug Fixes :
- Added collision volumes where Boss Ev's usually get stuck on Lab Assault
- Removed collision from rocks under the map on Lab Assault so Boss EVs don’t get stuck
- Fixed kill volume on Spooktacular Bay killing auras and Krakens
- Fixed a bunch of miscellaneous collisions on Spooktacular Bay
- Expanded Overlord bounds on Spooktacular Bay
- Fixed roof collisions on Spooktacular Bay
- Added collision where ogres get stuck under the bay on Spooktacular Bay
- Potentially fixed copter ogres getting stuck in the air on Spooktacular Bay
- Fixed getting stuck when going to the roof on Spooktacular Bay
-  Made Mushroom and trees collisions smaller on Striking Tree
- Fixed invisible mushrooms on Striking Tree
- Fixed a bunch of minor collision issues on Striking Tree
- Added back the missing triggers for steam achievements from update 7
- Fixed a typo in one of the names for a Staff of Flowers core drop
- Fixed the old one not shooting fireballs
- Fixed bug where tower boosters would not always affect aura attack rates
- Fixed the broken report bug button to link on the pause menu
- All Update 9.0 weapons now have size randomization similar to Update 8.7’s weapons
- Melee pets now properly hit Kraken, Spider Queen, and Goblin Mech bosses
- Fixed Jade Serpent being white when dropped on the ground
- Pets that look identical can now both contribute to familiar related achievements (ex: robot from tinkers lab and alc lab)
- Fixed bug where pets that did the line of sight checks could never target the cruiser ship boss core
- Fixed broken links on the welcome screen
- Fixed issue where “toggle other players towers sellable” was impossible to select on a controller
- Fix for copter ogres getting stuck on one spot outside the map on Winter Wonderland
- Remade collision for trees on Striking Tree, stuck mobs and drops should be less frequent
- Possible fix for Jester Fool skin call-out animation with guns
- Made Pumpkin Snowman boss drop mana on Spooktacular Bay and Halloween Invasion

Balance Changes :
- Mini Kraken, Mini Genie King, Mr. Owl, Dice, Christmas Elephant, Mega Chicken, Forge Robot, and Tiger had their melee range increased
- Increased range for Wasp Pet and decreased melee range
- Removed ranged attack from Mega Chicken
- Limited upgrading Mega Chicken’s shots per second to 4, to avoid using upgrades when that wouldn’t do anything 
- Made Ult rates for Ember Pony and Fenix better
- Buffed Ember Pony damage multiplier
- Tentatively made Ember Pony float higher when equipped
- Karathiti Monkey buffed to be on the same level as Akatiti Monkeys
- Removed movement speed from Final Patch
- Made all characters and skins, with the exception of Jester, move 10% faster by default
- Decreased mana cost scaling of Squire’s Blood Rage ability
- Decreased the movement speed multiplier on Squire’s Blood Rage ability
- Increased damage scaling of Countess’ Call to Arms ability 
- Decreased mana cost of Countess’ Call to Arms ability
- Added a flat 20% speed multiplier to other heroes in Countess’ Call to Arms ability range
- Made base Series EV and Bounty Hunter EV skin have better-cast rate scaling than a jester
- Added Joust fire trail from Redux, it now scales with ability 2.
- Talay Mining Complex survival now has 35 waves. Added a Steam Bot pet to wave 25
- Made Hashat's Recurve max projectile speed upgrade be 75000
- Made Hashat's Recurve elemental damage type roll between only fire and lightning
- Buffed ember shield to be in line with other shields
- Added Black Knight and Black Bishop weapons to King’s Game
- King’s Game Survival now gives the Campaign weapon rewards
- Coastal Bazaar now has in-game trophies 
- Chests now drop more items when open after the first wave on maps
- Made Pirate Patch from Challenge: Pirate Invasion drop with colors
- Added Turkey Bracers to Challenge: Greater Turkey Hunt
- Buffed the following accessories to be in line with other end-game accessories: Pirate Hat, Pirate Patch, Defender's Cornucopia, Defender's Headdress, Gobbler Shield, Turkey Mask, Santa Hat, Santa Beard, Top Hat, and Bow
- Added for weapon rewards  Halloween Spooktacular on Nightmare
- Staff charge rate can now be upgraded to 128
- Made all Mr. Owl pets 30% bigger
- Reduced Coastal Bazaar survival difficulty
- Old generic Dragon Bracers now are part of the Spooky Accessory Set
- Armguards of Love now are part Pink Temple of Love Accessory Set
- Made Ember Crescent always spawn with 1 extra projectile
- Buffed mage towers drop chance to 15%
- Buffed siege mech drop chance to 80% and drops to 6
- Made Outlander Ranger flight time the same as EV 1.75 skin
- Removed movement speed from Calamity Blade
 - Changed type sort to consider armor set bonus types (pristine, mail..) before the actual slot type (helmet, gloves..)
 - Changed type sort to separate accessory types (hats, masks, shields..)
- Reduced Apprentice’s Fireball Tower attack rate, boosted tower damage, and gave it 25% extra projectile speed
 

DEFENDERS,

Today we have an exciting new update which includes some huge changes we have been working hard on! There are two main features to highlight: Loadouts to customize heroes with new abilities and Map Choice which gives players the choice of which map and mode to go to next. In addition to these we have also made changes to game flow, balance, health, runes, weapons, and UI polish. Read on for the details or jump in the game and check them out right away!

Loadouts
Each hero now has at least 4 new abilities that are unlocked through a variety of quests and challenges. These new abilities are not intended to be complete replacements for the default ones but to enhance and give additional options to each hero. In addition to Abilities there are also two other types of Loadouts: Runes and Offhands.

Abilities
These are alternate abilities for the Skill (Right-Click), Ability One (F), Ability Two (C), and Movement (Shift). Each hero has at least four new abilities but some have more.

Equipment
These are two slots which allow players to choose some of their starting equipment and are also unlocked through quests like Abilities.

Starting Rune
Before this update each hero would unlock and automatically equip a new Rune with each Hero Level. This was called Hero Mastery but it didn’t provide the kind of customization that we were hoping for. Now each Hero Level will unlock a new rune and players can choose one to start with.

Starting Offhand
Offhands will no longer drop from chests in-game but instead are something players unlock and choose to begin the game. They can still be upgraded at the Void Shop’s Blacksmith or purchased at the Void Shop’s Shopkeeper.

Each now also has a unique base effect which gives it a specific purpose and allows for more control over the role of the hero.

Unlocking
All of the new loadouts need to be unlocked. Some are simple quests like “Complete 5 Runs on the Squire”. Others are more of a challenge like in the above screenshot of “Defeating any boss on Hard by only using Defenses”.

Map Choice
One of the major goals for this update is to give players a choice of which map to go to next and if they want something that’s more challenging but also more rewarding or to just pick their favorite map. 

Portals
With this players now must choose a portal to go through after each map victory. In Multiplayer the portal is chosen by the Game Host after all players are ready.

New Game Modes
Moving Core
A twist on the old challenge from DD1 and DDA. In DDGR it is different in that the Core will move between different stopping points where it is blocked by some inconveniently placed barrels. Luckily those barrels can be destroyed once the Core gets there. Unluckily the enemy is very attached to those barrels and will start attacking in order to defend them. Once all of the barrels have been cleared the core will continue on until it reaches the next stopping point or the end goal.

Warping Core
At the start of each wave and in between waves on Hard difficulty the Core will teleport to a new location. Chase it around and get there before the enemies do!

Arena
This is a brand new game mode to test out gameplay that isn’t centered on the Core. Navigate your way through three new maps avoiding traps, enemies, and then defeating a Mini-Boss at the end. These maps will only be found as a choice before the Boss map in each Act.

Rewards
Each of these new game modes provides an increase in challenge and with it an additional reward!

General
While the Loadouts and Map Choice were the biggest focus in this update there are also a lot of other changes we have made to help bring the game closer to what we originally envisioned for it. These include changes to the basic game mechanics but also tweaks to balance and items.

Gameflow
One of the biggest changes previous players will notice is that there are no longer downtimes in between waves. The map will start after a countdown and then waves of enemies will come until it’s over with a final chest rewarded at the end.

With this we have also added a Pause function when the Escape Menu is open in single player.

In addition to the changes to waves there has also been a large amount of polish to everything from boss introductions to death cameras. We hope it provides a more polished and rewarding experience overall!

Health
Another big change that players will notice is that Health will no longer regenerate after each map but persists between map transitions. There have also been various tweaks to Runes, Item Effects, Talents, and Health Drop rates in order to hopefully accomplish our goal of making Health feel more like a resource that must be managed.

Runes and Weapons
There are way too many various changes to list here but there have been changes to the balance of Runes and Weapons. Updates to the base effects on Weapons to make them all feel more unique and powerful.

We have also added some new Runes into the drop pool so look out for those!

One of the biggest changes that should be noticeable is that there will be more Runes and Weapons in the drop pool by default. Previously these would be unlocked through Hero and Account Levels but we didn’t feel like the default experience provided enough choices in Runes and Weapons. So with the addition of Loadouts into the Progression system we have made it so that most Runes and Weapons can drop.

UI Updates
We have also done an overhaul throughout the game on many different aspects of the UI in order for it to be more user friendly and generally polished. We hope that this provides a better overall experience but know there is still room for improvement so please let us know what else you’d like to see there!

Social Defenders
To stay up-to-date on the latest news from Chromatic Games and the Dungeon Defenders franchise, follow us on all our social channels:

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For Etheria!
Chromatic Games

Etheria Needs a Hero

Your Feedback Influences the Game

One of the maps Council members will be the first to play later this year!

Council Seats Are Available November 11th

1. 
   
   
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   2. Donate $30 or more to Childs Play by using the Humble Widget above starting at 6pm EST on Monday, November 11th. There are only 500 of these slots available, so act quickly!
      
      
   3. Bid on additional seats on our Trendy eBay page found HERE.
      
      
   
   
   

Our heroes receiving their Council emblems.

Miss Your Chance? Theres One More Way to Join

DEFENDERS,

It’s finally here! The Lycan’s Keep Update is live on PC/Steam and Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch (as of August 24th, 2021). We’ve been testing, revising, retesting, and re-revising this update for a couple of months. Now, we can’t wait for all Defenders to experience the big (and small) changes to Etheria.

We don’t want to keep you in the intro too long, so get scrolling! Read about all the goodies (and new baddies) included in The Lycan’s Keep Update.

TWO-WEEK EPISODE 1 LOGIN REWARD!

First thing’s first, to celebrate the launch of The Lycan’s Keep Update and DDA on Nintendo Switch on the same day, Defenders who log in to the game will be rewarded with this fancy Royal Shroomy Hat. This login event will only last for two weeks, so go go go!

Since this is a login reward for the new update, Nintendo Switch Defenders will have two weeks from the release of the update on that console to earn that reward. Don’t worry; we wouldn’t let anyone miss out on the Shroomy hat fun.

New DLC - Supporter Packs

You asked, and we’re delivering, introducing our purchasable Supporter Packs! Have you always wished to look like a Gator while defending the Crystal? Well, us either, but now we can’t think of a better way to scare the baddies. You can grab the full Gator Gear Weapons and Accessories set for $9.99 USD. You’ll also find the Chromatic Costume set and DD1 Original Hero Paper Masks set for $4.99 USD. We can’t wait to see you all in your new gear!

Gator Gear Weapons and Accessories

Chromatic Costumes

Original Hero Paper Masks

New Heroes

This update introduces two new defendin’ heroes to Etheria - The Warden and The Rogue! On top of the new heroes, we made some changes to the Hero Deck, including expanding it and making the active hero incentives stronger.

The Warden

A guardian of the forest that was banished to the realm our heroes find themselves in, The Warden joins our roster to help push back the evils that stand in your way with plant-like defenses and a Wrath Mode to scare even the toughest enemies. In our prior surveys and roadmap voting, the Dryad from Dungeon Defenders II was one of the most requested heroes. The Warden is her spiritual successor, using the power of the forest to take down any foe that approaches.

Attacks and Abilities

Primary Attack: The Warden swings her mighty polearm like a scythe clearing a field, destroying foes that stand before you in melee range.

Secondary Attack - Sprout: The Warden calls forth a sprout that erupts from the ground, dealing low AoE damage to nearby enemies, shooting a seed a short distance away.

• Normal Form: Picking up the seed instantly regenerates 15% of the Warden’s mana.
• Wrath Form: The seed grants increased damage and movement speed for 5 seconds.

Ability 1 - Mushroom Circle: Beckons forth a burst of mushrooms from the desired location.

• Normal Form: Mushrooms heal allies within the circle, while slowing enemy movement speed and reducing attack rate.
• Wrath Form: Enemies take damage while within the circle. After 10 seconds, the mushroom circle erupts, dealing damage and stunning all enemies within the circle.

Ability 2 - Wrath Form: Calls upon the power of the forest causing the Warden to surge with energy. Wrath Form increases the strength of all her abilities and defenses while active, regardless of range.

Defenses

Defense 1 - Roots of Purity: Summons a blockade that can take a beating from enemies. Blesses the ground with the Zone of Purity around the roots that allows the Warden’s other defenses to be constructed. The Zone of Purity restores 1% HP per second to any hero within its coverage.

• Mana Cost: 20 Build Mana
• Defense Units: 1 DU
• Wrath Form: The Zone of Purity becomes the Zone of Wrath, dealing damage over time to enemies within its boundaries, while also slightly reducing enemy damage.

Defense 2 - Wisp Den: Opens a portal, pulling through three wisps that focus down enemies within its range, always prioritizing high-threat targets.

• Mana Cost: 50 Build Mana
• Defense Units: 4 DU
• Wrath Form: Wisps become enraged, attacking enemies for more damage.

Defense 3 - Beaming Blossom: Grows a flower that collects solar energy that then goes crazy towards enemies within its range, shooting a pure continuous beam of solar energy that deals high damage.

• Mana Cost: 70 Build Mana
• Defense Units: 5 DU
• Wrath Form: The beam becomes magically empowered, piercing through enemies.

Defense 4 - Shroomy Pit: A pit appears that spawns a Shroomy, a brave mushroom warrior of the forest. Shroomies don’t have a lot going on in their heads, and as a result they do two things. Idly stand still, and as they spot an enemy, charge legs first (they’re a bit off-balance) and explode into enemies, dealing damage in a large area.

• Mana Cost: 40 Build Mana
• Defense Units: 5 DU
• Wrath Form: Shroomies enter their own Wrath Form, applying a damage over time effect to enemies hit by their explosion.

Defense 5 - Sludge Launcher: Vines and logs are infused together, pulling in toxins from the ground, shooting out giant globs that explode on contact, dealing a large amount of damage to the first enemy hit and heavily coat them in sludge, lightly covering nearby enemies in sludge, slightly slowing them.

• Mana Cost: 80 Build Mana
• Defense Units: 7 DU
• Wrath Form: If the Warden attacks heavily sludge covered enemies, they can be stunned for 1.5 seconds.

The Rogue

This highly-trained elven warrior is the last remaining elite soldier from an ancient elven army, meaning he comes ready to battle enemies head on as a melee and ranged dual-wielding hero. As a combat-only defender, the Rogue is agile, dashing in and leaping out of battle as he sees fit.

A lack of defense towers does not mean the Rogue is without protection. Activating Umbral Form makes him invisible and his arsenal of devices combine to disable, enfeeble, and slow your enemies’ advances.

Attack and Primary Abilities

Weapons of Choice: Dual-wielding: Melee (Right hand) and Crossbow (Left hand)

Primary Attack - Melee Attack: The Rogue swings his equipped sword, dealing damage based on the weapon’s stats.

Secondary Attack - Ranged Attack: The Rogue fires his equipped crossbow, dealing damage based on the weapon’s stats.

Primary Ability 1 - Swift Assault: Dashes forward and deals AoE damage once reaching his destination.

• From Umbral Form: The Rogue throws a single piercing deadly knife at an enemy, dealing massive damage to up to 3 targets.

Primary Ability 2 - Disengage: Throws a spread of daggers forward dealing AoE damage and applying Rogue’s Mark to all enemies hit during attack. The Rogue leaps backwards out of the danger, providing a gap between him and his foes.

• From Umbral Form: Daggers deal more damage and pin enemies to the ground, immobilizing them for a short period.

Devices and Utility Abilities

Passive - Rogue’s Mark: Marks are applied to a maximum of 8 enemies while using Swift Assault, Disengage, or Primary and Secondary attacks. The Rogue can then activate debilitating Devices on Marked enemies.

Device 1 - Arcing: Snares Marked enemies with nets of lightning, disabling their attacks and abilities, as well as dealing a large amount of lightning damage.

Device 2 - Napalm: Incinerates Marked enemies, dealing a large amount of fire damage over a short time. Enemies also take increased damage from other attacks and abilities while Napalm is active.

Device 3 - Noxious: Injects Marked enemies with a highly potent toxin that slows movement and deals poison damage while Noxious is active.

Utility Ability 1 - Umbral Form: The Rogue becomes invisible for a short duration. While invisible, the agile hero has increased movement speed, damage, and empowered non-Device abilities. He cannot be targeted by enemies, but he can still take damage from their attacks if he gets within damaging range.

• Damage: Increased by 10-50%
• Movement Speed: Increased by 25-100%
• Healing: up to 5% HP every 0.5 seconds
• Duration: 5-10 seconds
• Cooldown: 20-12 seconds

Utility Ability 2 - Carnage: The Rogue throws a flurry of deadly piercing daggers, dealing AoE damage every half a second throughout its duration. Defenders can move while this ability is activated and it can be channeled until you’re completely out of mana.

• From Umbral Form: AoE damage radius is increased.

Hero Deck and Hero Level Changes

Hero Deck Changes

Now having four heroes is great and all, but based on prior survey results, we knew our Defenders wanted to build bigger hero decks. With the addition of the Warden and the Rogue, we knew this need would be even greater. Instead of 4 heroes in your deck, you’ll now have 6 HERO DECK SLOTS!

A larger hero deck called for some changes to the Hero Deck Bonuses too. Defenders wanted more incentives for keeping heroes in their hero deck, so we did just that by revamping the bonuses. Check out those changes below:

New Deck Bonuses

• XP is equally earned across all active heroes in Hero Deck.
• Set Bonuses and Item Effects are only active in the Hero Deck.
• Tower Damage for all heroes in the Hero Deck is increased by 20%.

Hero Level Changes

We have one more hero-related change for our Defenders. For all of you who feel reaching Level 100 wasn’t difficult enough, we’re increasing the level cap for all heroes to 105. The best items in The Lycan’s Keep update require Level 105 to equip, meaning you’ll need to conquer many foes on your journey to utilize the strongest gear available.

Pets

New Pet - Happy Hera

• Shoots exploding projectiles that deal damage to nearby enemies.
• Restores HP for each enemy hit while attacking.

New Pet - Raging Zeus

• Shoots exploding projectiles that deal damage to nearby enemies.
• Chance to stun while attacking.

New Pet - Lycan Prince

• Provides bonus armor to nearby heroes.

New Pet - Demon Duke

• Attacks enemies both with melee and ranged attacks.

Airship

• Increased chance to spawn with max projectiles (3).
• Now shoots its projectiles at different targets if more than 1 target exists.
  • For example, with up to 3 projectiles, the targeting changes depending on the number of enemies:
    • 1 Target - 3 projectiles on the one enemy
    • 2 Targets - 2 projectiles on the first enemy, and 1 on the second
    • 3 Targets - 1 projectile on each enemy

Dragon

• Increased chance to spawn with max projectiles (3).
• Increased attack damage by 20%.
• Now always rolls with Fire damage.
• Updated projectile appearance.

Etherian

• Increased base damage by 500%.
• Increased melee extent by 185%.

Giraffe

• NEW: While the hero with this pet equipped is ACTIVE in play the Hero Deck Builder bonus is increased by 5%.
• Reduced Hero Stat scaling by 10%.

Griffin

• Increased chance to spawn with max projectiles (3).
• Increased attack damage by 20%.
• Now always rolls with Lightning damage.
• Updated projectile appearance.

Little Wizard

• Now has 1 projectile.
• Increased attack damage.
• Rolls for any elemental damage, except Fusion.
• Projectile travels through all map elements for a set duration, dealing damage to all enemies hit on path.

Mega Chicken

• Increased projectile AoE by 15%.
• Increased melee extent by about 43% Increased attack damage.
• Increased scaling for hero stats.
• Added VFX for projectile and melee attacks.

Mista Mine

• NEW: While the hero with this pet equipped is ACTIVE in play the Hero Deck Builder bonus is increased by 10%.
• Reduced Hero Stat scaling by 10%.

Monkey King

• Decreased damage buff to 10% from 15%, while increasing the number of times it can stack to 10 from 5.
• Increased base damage by about 1000%.
  • When fully buffed, he will now have about 260% more damage.

Paddleball

• Increased base damage by about 2800%.

Ramster

• Increased base damage by about 500%.
• Increased melee extent by 185%.

Steam Robot

• Increased base damage by about 400%.
• Increased melee extent by 330%.

Fusion Pets

• Fusion pets will now drop on Encore maps in Rifted Campaign victory chests, Survival Wave 14 victory chests, Survival Wave 25 victory chests, and Bonus Wave victory chests.
  • Magus Quarters: Paddleball
  • Endless Spires: Monkey King
  • Glitterhelm: Mega Chicken
  • Foundries and Forges: Demon Duke

All Melee Pets

• Increased chance to drop with a max attack rate of 0.33 seconds.
• Increased target range.
• Increased stat scaling on Vitality by 8%.
• Removed Knockback from all attacks.

All Ranged Pets

• Increased chance of spawning with a max attack rate of 0.63 seconds.
• Increased target range by 50%.
• Increased all projectile speeds by 300%.
  • No longer target Siren. NEW Target Priority: Djinn > Copter > Ogre/Sharken/Lycan/CopterOgre > Spider > Warrior > Bosses > Everything else

Act IV Maps

We added in another round of maps for our Defenders to test their combat and tower-building skills, that also include NEW ENEMIES and a NEW BOSS. Keep scrolling for all the details on this juicy, new content. (Maps are listed in order.)

The Mill

The Mill is the first stop the heroes make upon leaving the castle to continue their journey. They enter a bright and vibrant forest that used to be used to provide lumber and materials for building the castle and nearby towns. Though it seems calm and peaceful, an army of enemies awaits to prevent our heroes from pushing onward with their journey.

If you squint REALLY hard you’ll notice that this map is a remake of a fan favorite, and highly requested map, Mistymire. We made a couple of changes to make building defenses feel better, as well as modified some lanes to make things play out more smoothly.

• # of Cores: 3
• DU: 140

The Outpost

The Outpost is a remake of the Drakenfrost Resort map from Dungeon Defenders II, a map that not many people have had the opportunity to explore and defend. It hangs on a cliff, overlooking where you’ve previously come from, and acted as a barracks of sorts to keep soldiers of Etheria stationed outside of town, with a giant belltower to warn of incoming threats.

• # of Cores: 2
• DU: 140

The Keep

The Keep’s sheer size is a challenge in itself. Do you focus on pushing enemies into tight lanes to maximize AoE damage? Do you find the perfect hiding spot for your DSTs? Guess we’ll have to wait and see what The Keep has in store for defenders.

• # of Cores: 3
• DU: 145

Bonus Map: Foundries and Forges

This bonus map probably looks like another familiar remake of one of DD1 Defenders’ favorites. The gorgeous (and deadly) lava that turn up the heat within the Foundries and Forges aims to give Defenders a bit of nostalgia with renewed fun.

• # of Cores: 1
• DU: 80

Enemies

Any good update also brings in some new baddies to liven up combat. Act IV introduces the baddest of them all - werewolves! Try not to get too scared while learning more about them.

Lycan

Using this feral foe’s signature ability, “Howl,” the Lycan empowers himself and nearby enemies, reducing the damage of incoming attacks, and increasing their health and damage each time they’re attacked while howling. Lycan enemies show up on each of the new maps, but they show up in earlier waves as you progress through Act IV.

Lycan King

Once you maneuver your defenses and combat to get around the Howling Lycan, you have one more challenge to save Etheria - the Lycan King! You’ll run into the King after defeating the final wave on The Keep. We won't spoil this for you, you'll have to experience it yourself!

Gear Changes

Gear has gotten a major facelift in this update, and for a lot of reasons. We took a heavy look at what Defenders are doing with gear, how well they understand it, and what that means for metas. The prior meta was boost-only to succeed. Boost builds are fun, but they shouldn’t be the only way to experience the game. We’re keeping boosting viable, but we’ve also added options to help give our ever-expanding roster of heroes and content more ways to be enjoyed.

Stat Changes

There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s focus on the specific changes to each hero and tower stat.

• Ammo and Reload Speed Removed
  • Crossbow alternate fires have been updated!
  • NEW - Grenade Shot: The Huntress gains the ability to shoot an arcing explosive that deals damage to enemies hit. If the Huntress is in the explosion radius, she gets launched based on her orientation to the explosion.
• Agility
  • Cannot be upgraded, but instead scales from levels 1 - 50.
  • At Level 50, the movement speed increase is equivalent to 100 agility stat points from before Episode 1.
• Block
  • Scales based on the source of the attack, with smaller enemies taking less block resources and stronger enemies taking more.
• Casting
  • Scales based on your hero level up to a cap. The higher your level, the faster you build, repair, and upgrade defenses.
• Charge Rate
  • Baked into abilities that charge (e.g. Apprentice Secondary Attack)
• Knockback
  • Scales off specific weapons innately.
• Melee Attack, Ranged Attack, and Elemental Attack
  • Merged into one “Damage” stat.
  • Damage scaling is the same as before.
• Projectile Count (Polearms)
  • Scales with Monk’s level.
  • Start the game with a single projectile, and this number increases with Monk’s progression, with a max of 7 projectiles.
    • Unique boss weapons still change the shot pattern and scale with level.
• Projectile Speed
  • Scales off specific weapons innately.
• Skill and Boost
  • Merged into one “Ability” stat.
  • Scales all abilities based on this single stat.
• New “Crit” and “Crit Scaling” Stats - Melee Only
  • Added Critical Strike and Critical Scaling stats to melee heroes weapons (Swords and Polearms).
  • Scaling applies to primary attacks only (not abilities or secondary attacks).

Item Stat Changes

Now that we have changes to the stats laid out, the presentation of stats are different now too. In the prior meta, a lot of players felt forced to only play with their defenses. Of course, we love a strategic, effective tower build to take on challenges in DDA, but it shouldn’t be the only way to take down the toughest baddies. Instead of forcing Defenders to choose between a defense-focused hero only and a damage-focused hero only, you now have the option for both.

Where stats show up changes within this update and we wanted to provide a breakdown of their new homes:

Hero Stats

• Damage: Weapons, Pets
• Attack: Weapons, Pets, and Offhands
• Ability: Weapons, Pets, and Offhands
• Vitality: Weapons, Pets, and Offhands
• Armor: Helmets, Gloves, Chest, and Boots
• Firing Solution: Crossbows, Staves, and Pets
• Projectile Count: Crossbows and Staves
• Critical Chance: Polearms and Swords
• Critical Severity: Polearms and Swords

Tower Stats

• Fortitude: Helmet, Gloves, Chest, Boots, Masks, Bracers, and Brooches
• Power: Helmet, Gloves, Chest, Boots, Masks, Bracers, and Brooches
• Def. Rate: Helmet, Gloves, Chest, Boots, Masks, Bracers, and Brooches
• Range: Helmet, Gloves, Chest, Boots, Masks, Bracers, and Brooches

Offhands

All heroes that do not dual wield weapons have an Offhand slot. These are as follows:

• Ammo Pouch: Crossbow heroes
• Shield: Sword heroes
• Tome: Staff heroes
• Whetstone: Polearm heroes

Item Effects

This is a new system for all gear in DDA. Item effects are unupgradable additional stats and effects that are applied on all your gear. For Episode 1, our goal has been to lay it out as a foundational system that we are going to continue to build upon.

They’re additional effects that roll on your gear. There are a ton of these (with more added each episode) that should help boost your strength. Some only roll on specific item types. Here’s the list of the new item effects:

Stat Types

• These roll additional stats on pieces of gear that those stats could appear on.
  • Example 1 - “Increases your Power by X” rolls on armor and accessories.
  • Example 2 - “Increases your Attack by X” rolls on weapons and offhands.

Elemental Increases

• These roll additional elemental damage increases.
  • Example 1 - “Increases your hero’s Fire damage by X%” rolls on weapons and offhands.
  • Example 2 - “Increases your defenses’ Fire damage by X%” rolls on armor and accessories.

On Attack

• When using your Primary Attacks, these have a chance to activate.
  • Example 1 - “Your Primary Attacks have X% chance to Enrage enemies for Y seconds”.
  • Example 2 - “Your Primary Attacks have X% chance to explode, damaging all enemies in range. Y seconds cooldown”.

Impact on Current Heroes

With all of these big changes to gear, Defenders should notice a change in your current gear. To make sure everything scales correctly, upgrades have changed since stats are altered. As a result, we’ve removed the upgrades from all of your gear and refunded a plethora of gold based on those upgrades. We know this seems tedious to have to go through this, but this also lets you choose how to upgrade your gear within this new system.

Set Bonuses

Set Bonuses are additional stats and functionality that you get out of wearing pieces of a specific set at the same time. Not much is changing other than there’s more of them! Check out what’s new.

New Bonuses

Thundering Defense

• Increase your defenses' Lightning damage by 50%.
  • Armor Set, 4 pieces
  • Like Fusion gear, your item stats are still increased, but by a lesser percentage.
  • This increase will make your Lightning Defenses your strongest defenses for this hero.

Plagued Defense

• Increase your defenses' Poison damage by 50%.
  • Armor Set, 4 pieces
  • Like Fusion gear, your item stats are still increased, but by a lesser percentage.
  • This increase will make your PoisonDefenses your strongest defenses for this hero.

Erupting Defense

• Increase your defenses’ Fire damage by 50%.
  • Armor Set, 4 Pieces
  • Like Fusion gear, your item stats are still increased, but by a lesser percentage.
  • This increase will make your Fire defenses your strongest defenses for this hero.

Deadly Defense

• Increase your defenses' Physical damage by 30%.
  • Armor Set, 4 Pieces
  • Like Fusion gear, your item stats are still increased, but by a lesser percentage.
  • This increase will make your Physical defenses your strongest defenses for this hero.

Inspired Defense

• Increase your defenses' damage by 25%.
  • Armor Set, 4 Pieces
  • Like Fusion gear, your item stats are still increased, but by a lesser percentage.
  • This increase will make your defenses your strongest defenses for this hero.

New Weapon Sets

Thundering Assault

• Increases your hero’s Lightning Damage by 50%.
  • Weapons, 2 Pieces (Weapon and Offhand)
  • New to weapons, but plays off Lightning weapons you acquire.

Plagued Assault

• Increases your hero’s Poison Damage by 50%.
  • Weapons, 2 Pieces (Weapon and Offhand)
  • New to weapons, but plays off Poison weapons you acquire.

Erupting Assault

• Increases your hero’s Fire Damage by 50%.
  • Weapons, 2 Pieces (Weapon and Offhand)
  • New to weapons, but plays off Fire weapons you acquire.

Deadly Assault

• Increases your hero’s Physical Damage by 30%.
  • Weapons, 2 Pieces (Weapon and Offhand)
  • New to weapons, but plays off Physical weapons you acquire.

Inspired Assault

• Increases your hero’s damage by 20%.
  • Weapons, 2 Pieces (Weapon and Offhand)

Etherian Champion

• Increase the Damage, Crit Bonus, and Attributes of all equipped Set Pieces by 30%.
  • Weapons, 2 Pieces (MeleeWeapon and Offhand)

Etherian Marksman

• Increase the Damage, Attack Rate, and Attributes of all equipped Set Pieces by 20%.
  • Weapons, 2 Pieces (Ranged Weapons and Offhands)

New Hero Weapon Sets

Apprentice’s Rearmed

• Mana Bomb triggers 1 additional explosion for additional damage.

EV-A’s Protean Cannon MK II

• Protean Surge deals 200% increased damage and ensnares enemies by 20% for 10 seconds.

Huntress’s Flock of Searing Gulls

• Phoenix Shot now fies 2 additional projectiles that deal additional damage.

Monk’s Aura of Pain

• Hero Boost deals additional damage to all enemies within the aura every second.

Rogue’s Marked for Death

• Swift Assault reduces all enemy armor by 25% for 8 seconds.

Squire’s Spinning Steel

• Circular Slice unleashes 4 Piercing Slashes dealing additional damage to all enemies in a line.

Warden’s Enraging Spores

• Mushroom Circle has a 50% chance to enrage enemies. Effect persists for 10 seconds after Mushroom Circle ends.

Woodland Weapons

This new forest-themed set features the following weapons:

• Woodland Sword
• Woodland Polearm
• Woodland Axe 
• Woodland Crossbow
• Woodland Staff

Wolfsbane Weapons

• Drops after defeating Lycan King in Massacre Campaign and Survival.
  • Staff: Max 3 Projectiles with large AOE radius.
  • Bow: Max 1 Projectile with piercing.
  • Polearm: large damage and attack rate boosts.
  • Sword/Mace: increased crit bonus and large damage boosts.

Inventory Layout Update

One of the details we’ve been anxiously waiting to add to the live game is the new Inventory layout and information. Especially with all the changes in this update, we knew we needed to deliver information on items, stats, set bonuses, heroes, etc. better than before. We did this by optimizing the layout with updated organization, better sorting options, and more and more helpful information in the tooltips.

We’ve optimized our layout so that everything is together, making it easier to understand what you’re doing within your inventory.

Bags
You’ll notice at the top there are a plethora of bags. We added additional iconography that allows you to change the visuals for your bags, making it easier to know what each contains based on your personal preferences. That means that you need to have specific filters for specific bags. We’ve got you covered:

Stats
Wow that’s so much for the Inventory! But wait, maybe you’re asking “Weren’t there other tabs?” and you’d be right. The way character stats are displayed and upgraded are all in one convenient location on the Stats Tab:

Spellbook
The Spellbook tab explains what your abilities and towers do for your selected hero. We’ll continue to expand on this feature in the future, but for now it should be made more clear what your heroes can do:

NEW Item Reforging

Reforging allows you to reset an item’s assigned upgrades and re-upgrade that item in a different way. Reforging the item doesn't take gold but you will have to repurchase any upgrades that you wish to add back on. This is great for if you accidently upgrade the wrong stat or if you want to try something new.

“Tests” Game Mode

We let loose a NEW GAME MODE! This new mode is called “Tests” because it’s one defender being tested against one big baddy. The “big baddy” can be any of DDA’s infamous bosses, and you fight one-on-one to defeat them on their own map. One more small detail - you fight the bosses with zero defenses. Wait! You can’t use your heroes to do this, either. You must choose to fight with one of two predetermined heroes, built by your favorite devs.

Each fight has a 3-minute timer, so you need to be skilled and quick. We’ve spent our PTR phasing honing these different tests so each battle feels fun, tough, and fair. Those of you who were testers during the PTR probably felt those changes throughout testing, and now we’re super excited to show off this new mode with AWESOME NEW REWARDS! Keep reading on to learn all about the new Tests.

Test of the Demon

• Available Heroes:
  • Huntress
  • Series EV-A, with staves
• Demon Lord specials:
  • Demon Lord is immune to damage unless stunned by the Generators
  • When Demon Lord is stunned, goblins and/or orcs rain from the sky
  • Deadly mechanic: Fireball

Test of the Mech

• Available Heroes:
  • Apprentice
  • Series EV-A, with bows
• Goblin Mech specials:
  • Mech has increased movement speed.
  • Mech takes reduced damage from hits that don’t hit the weak point.
  • Dark Elf Warriors periodically spawn.
  • Deadly mechanic: Melee attacks.

Test of the Ancient

• Available Heroes:
  • Monk
  • Squire
• Ancient Dragon specials:
  • When flying around the map, the Dragon can only be damaged by the Ballista.
  • Wyverns spawn after Dragon is shot by the Ballista.
  • Deadly mechanic: Fireballs

The tests all provide a reward for our brand new WINGS transmog slot. Wings are only unlocks through transmog, and do not provide an item that goes in your inventory. It's a fun cosmetic piece that we'll continue to incorporate into rewards with future updates.

Changes to Rifted

Rifted Portals

Another fun addition is Rifted Portals. What the heck are portals?!

Rifted Portals are alternate spawn points for enemies that appear at set locations and times on Rifted Act IV maps. Enemies are removed from their original lane and ported to the alternate location. What defenses they miss along the way, nobody knows.

How do you deal with these pesky portals?? Lucky for Defenders, these can be destroyed by your hero. There’s a catch, of course. Portals cannot be destroyed by your hero’s defenses. So, choose your hero wisely!

An added benefit to destroying a portal is the loot that drops once it’s gone. There’s always that incentive to take it down. If you don’t destroy it before the wave is over, it will quietly disappear and a fresh portal will reappear on the next wave, but you won’t receive any loot. Gotta work for the goods.

Rifted Enemies

After Update 1.3 where we reduced the number of enemies across the board to boost game performance, the experiences in Rifted were impacted more than we (and Defenders) wanted. Rifted was designed to challenge the most dedicated Defenders, but as the enemy counts reduced, this mode kind of felt like a punishment rather than an exciting challenge. The long runs that resulted weren’t an intentional design choice and we’ve fixed that to make Rifted all it was meant to be.

To meet this goal, Rifted no longer spawns normal enemies. Now, only Rifted enemies show up when you choose this mode. The enemy counts, attack damage, and HP stay exactly the same. You just won’t need to bat off the normies anymore.

Bonus Waves

These are one of those spicy additions we’ve added for late-game defenders who are itching for that extra challenge. With an extra challenge comes extra rewards in the form of a chance to get max quality gear from EVERY MAP. What’s the point of a Bonus Wave? To earn extra awesome gear, of course! And you should believe us when we say these rewards are extra awesome.

Unlocking Bonus Waves

Defenders can only unlock Bonus Waves in each Act after completing Survival Wave 25 on the Boss maps on Nightmare and Massacre difficulties. We want to make sure Defenders are rewarded for attempting (and completing) more difficult maps, too. So, once you complete a Boss map, that boss’ named Bonus Wave is unlocked for all prior maps. For example, defeating the Goblin Mech at the end of Act 2 will unlock the Goblin Mech Bonus Wave for all Act 1 and Act 2 maps (minus the Throne Room and Endless Spires).

This gives defenders freedom to choose the battle that’s appropriate for your style of play. If you want to skip over the Demon Lord and Goblin Mech maps, heading straight to Ancient Dragon to open the Bonus Waves for all three Acts, you’re able to do that. You may be asking, “Why bother with these extra waves if they’re just tougher challenges?” Well, we left out some important pieces of information…

Loot Drops on Bonus Waves

We hope you’re ready for some AWESOME rewards because that’s what Defenders are getting from these Bonus Waves. As with all other loot drops, the loot quality increases according to the level of the boss associated with the Bonus Wave. Basically, Act 1 Bonus Wave loot drops will increase in quality after you defeat Demon Lord, and Act 1 and 2 Bonus Wave loot drops will increase (again) after you defeat Goblin Mech. Activating Hardcore and/or Rifted further adds to the quality of Bonus Wave loot drops on all maps.

NEW ACHIEVEMENTS!

You asked for it, and we thought it was a great idea. Now there are even more achievements to unlock as you defend your way through Etheria - 18 new achievements for Defenders on both platforms, to be exact. Enjoy!

Hero Balance

Apprentice

Defenses

• Magic Missile Tower
  • Projectile damage was increased by 60%.
  • Projectile speed was increased by 50%.
• Flameburst Tower
  • Projectile damage was increased by 75%
  • Projectile speed was increased by 50%.
• Lightning Tower
  • Projectile damage was increased by 80%.
  • Bounce range increased and set to 600 units.
    • Previously at base level was 275 units, and fully upgraded to 350 units.

EV

Defenses

• Overlock Beam
  • Decreased minimum DU cost to 3 from 4.
  • Increased width to 25 from 20.

Huntress

Defenses

• All traps
  • Reduced attack rate cap to 0.65 from 2.
• Explosive Trap
  • Increased damage by 10%.
• Inferno Trap
  • Increased damage by 100%.
• Thunder Spike Trap
  • Increased damage by 50%.
  • Decreased reset time by about 40%.

Monk

Secondary Attack

• Now scales from Primary Attack Damage.
• Increased max projectile to 8 from 6.
  • Projectiles now scale with hero level.
• Updated attack to hit for 50% of melee damage per projectile.
• Decreased attack rate scaling.

Squire

Defenses

• Harpoon Turret
  • Projectile damage was increased by 33%.
  • Projectile speed increased by 50%.
• Bowling Bowl Turret
  • Projectile damage increased by 45%.

General

Melee Attacks

• Melee attacks no longer deal damage based on the enemy getting hit by the weapon’s model. Instead there is now a (pretty generous) hitbox that deals damage.
  • Developer’s Note - This was change made because:
    • Melee is already punishing to play. Increasing the range gives a little more safety and a lot more consistency with damage.
    • Various animations would make it so attacks would sometimes not hit. The animations pull from a pool of options, so sometimes RNG animations could punish you if their attack range didn’t extend as far.
    • Transmogging a weapon would change the range at which it hit, and made the transmog system potentially punish players that weren’t using the biggest weapons.
    • It’s just more fun.

Enemy Balance

Multiplayer Enemy HP

• Reduced HP scaling for most enemies when in multiplayer mode
• Add 50% HP to each enemy for each additional player:
  • Ogres
  • Copter Ogres
  • Siren
  • Lycan
• Add 25% HP to each enemy for each additional player:
  • Sharken
  • Djinn

Survival Rifted Boss HP

• Increased HP for all Survival Bosses to be 100% more in Rifted.

Bug Fixes

On top of the new content, we fixed lots of bugs reported by the community for PC and Xbox platforms. Here is the list of those fixes:

General

• Fixed a bug where transmog tooltips weren’t showing.
• Updated buff count to scale properly from rolling.
• Fixed an issue where healing may not have worked properly.
• Fixed a bug that would cause leaving the inventory to crash the game.
• Fixed a crash that would occur when upgrading then swapping heroes in the inventory.
• Fixed an issue where Ability Count effects were not correctly counting shots fired from ranged weapons.
• Fixed a bug where Upgrade / Repair / Sell weren't canceling each other when activated so you could have multiple activated at once.
• Fixed an issue Repair / Upgrade / Sell abilities were not cancelling after swapping to Build Mode.
• Fixed an issue where Sirens were getting stuck when fleeing to their spawn points.
• Survival: if you beat a certain wave on a harder difficulty, you can now play the same wave on a lower difficulty.
  • Example: if you beat Wave 20 on Massacre you can play up to Wave 20 on all lower difficulties.
• Fixed an issue where repair times were incorrect and taking longer on some defenses.
• Fixed an issue where Hero Stat points were resetting after upgrading an item and then returning to the Hero Stat menu.
• Fixed an issue where Vitality would not show as increasing when adding points.
• Fixed an issue where Crossbow weapons did not continue firing while holding the button to attack after double-clicking.
• Fixed an issue where Clients could see their own HP bar above their head.
• Fixed an issue where the Megachicken was showing incorrect projectile count.
• Fixed an issue where the pointer was missing from the main menu.
• Adjusted various accessory placements on heroes.
• Fixed an LOD issue with the Baby Phoenix Pet’s VFX.
• Fixed an issue where Level, XP, and Unspent Points didn’t update when you swapped heroes while on the stats tab in the inventory.
• Fixed an issue where IE ability passive abilities were not restarting on defender death and respawn.
• Fixed an issue where Map Selection wasn't selecting your last map’s difficulty.
• Fixed an issue where the “Sell All” function wasn’t working on PC.
• Fixed an issue where the Wave 25 victory chest would not automatically open in bonus wave build phases.
• Fixed an issue where Num5 and Num6 were not default to the binds for Slot 5 and Slot 6 of the hero deck for swapping.
• Fixed an issue where rotating a Defense after selecting placement caused issues with placing towers close together.
• Fixed an issue where no Repair and Upgrade were not ending animations when complete.
• Fixed an issue where regeneration effects were lingering on death.
• Fixed an issue where defenses were not showing any damage dealt in their tooltips.
• Fixed an issue where the compare tooltip showed up for slots that didn't have anything equipped.
• Fixed an issue where the transmog was displaying item tooltips.
• Fixed an issue where the pause between melee attacks was too long.
• Fixed an issue where some Ranged DPS pets could hit max stat on damage.
• Fixed an issue where Clients would not see the correct value for stats when inspecting built traps.

Enemies

• Decreased delay on the spawn of the last Ogre on Ancient Mines on Massacre Survival.
• Fixed an issue where Ogre Copter’s hat was too large.
• Fixed an issue where Copter Ogres would get stuck after their Copter was shot down.
• Fixed an issue where the Crystals could be attacked on Alchemical Labs while the boss timer was counting down, resulting in an instant stun when the Demon Lord spawned.
• Fixed an issue where Rifted Ogre's Kobold projectile was exploding too soon.

Heroes

• Squire
  • Fixed an issue where the Squire lost his base mana regen value.

Maps

• Fixed an issue where the Southernmost Tornado Valley billboard was partially stuck in the spawn door.
• Fixed an issue where defenses were unable to be placed on the pipes in Lava Mines.
• Fixed a lighting issue on Deeper Well.
• Fixed an issue where enemies were stuck on Endless Spires near the Northwest spawn point.
• Fixed some issues with collision and lighting on Endless Spires.
• Fixed an issue where Ogres weren’t spawning in Promenade Massacre Survival.
• Fixed an issue where Defenders would instantly die in a specific spot on Ancient Mines after using melee attack.

What Else?

Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch port for Dungeon Defenders: Awakened launches today! Check out the eShop page: Dungeon Defenders: Awakened on Nintendo Switch.

We weren’t able to get this update through Nintendo’s Lot Check before the official launch, but it will be downloadable for Switch Defenders as soon as possible! We’ll update the community once that date is available.

PlayStation Update

For PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 ports, we don’t yet have a release timeline. We previously announced we’re aiming for DDA to be out on all consoles by the end of the year. That will still be our goal, but we need some more time to figure out what tasks we need to complete to get DDA through Sony’s certification.

Social Defenders

To stay up-to-date on the latest news from Chromatic Games and the Dungeon Defenders franchise, follow us on all our social channels:

• Discord
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Twitch
• Forums

For Etheria!
Chromatic Games

DEFENDERS!

Today we released the PRIME INCURSIONS update on all platforms! We wanted to provide a challenge to our tested Defenders that was separate from Onslaught, and Prime Incursions are just that. There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s get into it!

PRIME INCURSIONS

What are they?

They are the highest and newest tier of incursions, selectable from the Incursions tab on the War Table. There are six different groups of incursions to play through that are releasing over time. You are able to play them as they are unleashed, the only thing that can hold you back is your own skill!

What are the rewards?

Prime Incursions have three different rewards associated with them.

Chaos VIII Ampoules
Each Prime Incursion has the chance to drop a Chaos VIII Ampoule. As you continuously progress, the Incursions get more and more difficult. As such, we wanted to increase the drop rate of Chaos VIII Ampoules to match that increase in difficulty. These Incursions can get pretty tough, which led us to making the hardest of these challenges have the highest drop chance for Chaos VIII Ampoules.

Chaos VIII Weapons
We’ve added a whole new slew of weapons with new weapon models that are only available through Prime Incursions. There’s over 25 new weapons to collect, sure to scratch that collector’s itch!

That’s not all there is to these weapons. Each weapon is upgraded to Chaos VIII, at the full 5/5 upgrade quality! That means they are perfectly upgraded, letting you focus on using Chaos VIII Amps to upgrade your relics and armor instead. Alongside these upgrades, we’ve curated these weapons to be what you really want. They have some of the most alluring shot and swing types many of you enjoy. ALONGSIDE THAT, included are curated mods specific to these weapons that really ensure these drops feel good and pack a punch!

Hyper Shards
Hyper Shards are something every player wants to boost up their arsenal. Previously, they were only acquired through Mastery completion, requiring a specific amount of Mastery Stars. Now, in Prime Incursions, you earn a Hyper Shard for every group you complete. There are six groups total, so if you complete all six of the groupings, you earn the seventh Hyper Shard as a capstone reward! This means you can now have up to TWO of each Hyper Shard in your ranks, pushing back the Old Ones forces more hyper-er than before.
When Do They Release?

Today we released the first two groups of Prime Incursions, Prime I and Prime II. Each of these groups contains 3 incursions, for a total of 6 to conquer. Every week, on Wednesday @ 9AM ET, we are releasing a new incursion. This is going until early November, giving you content to come back each week to enjoy. Here’s the schedule

Prime I & II:  TODAY!
Prime III Malthius:  September 4th
Prime III Power Surge:  September 11th
Prime IV Dark Awakening:  September 18th
Prime IV Return to Maldonis:  September 25th
Prime IV Bastille Master:  October 2nd
Prime V Altar of the Athame:  October 9th
Prime V Revenge of the Yetis:  October 16th
Prime V Spectral Assault:  October 23rd
Prime VI Dawn of the Blood Moon:  October 30th
Prime VI BETSY:  November 5th

New Costume
The Ascended Initiate is now available for purchase in-game at 800 Gems!

Social Defenders
To get reliable updates on what’s to come, be sure to check out our social platforms for the latest juiciest beans to be spilled:

• Twitter

• Facebook

• Discord

• Twitch

The team had a blast making this content, we cannot wait for all of you to get your hands on our next update. Stay tuned for more info soon!

For Etheria!

Chromatic Games

It’s here! It’s finally here! For months, we’ve been itching to get the Terraria crossover into your hands. (Paws? Mitts? Cybernetic robo-arms?) The Terraria Update, out now on PC and PS4, is one of our largest content patches to date. We hope you have fun with those badass Terraria weapons while we continue working on Phase 3 of our Journey to Release Plan, which contains updates to Endgame, Loot, Inventory and much more that you’ve been asking for.

We had the pleasure of working with Re-Logic this year on this fun collaboration, and we can’t say enough about how amazing and talented they are. We’re so thankful to call them our friends. But we’ve even more thankful for you, our dear Defenders. Whether you’re just joining our community today or you’ve been with us for years, we appreciate your support!

(Before you read on, we wanted to let you know that we're doing a Dryad giveaway on Twitter!)

Features

Terraria Crossover

• New Hero: The Dryad
  • The Dryad is the physical manifestation of the will of Terraria itself. With the wisdom of untold ages, she takes up arms to protect and defend her home against evil and corruption. Her World Tree is an anchor for all of her ferocious defenses.
  • Abilities
    • Ability One - Dryad’s Blessing:  Blessing surrounds the Dryad with leaves, shielding her and increasing her armor. When corrupt, Blessings deals damage around her.
    • Ability Two - Powder Toss: Purification mushrooms heal nearby allies and slow enemies. Corrupt mushrooms deal damage and stun when they expire.
    • Ability Three - Starfall: Starfall damages enemies and leaves behind a star that Dryads gather to replenish their mana. When corrupt, the star explodes and deals damage to enemies in its range.
    • Ability Four - World Tree: The World Tree provides the power that the Dryad needs to summon her defenses. It restores 5% of a hero's max HP over time while giving +20% Hero Crit Damage and +10% Hero Crit Chance to nearby heroes.
  • Defenses
    • Defense One - Moss Hornet’s Nest: The Dryad summons a hornet's nest that periodically summons a hornet which viciously attacks an enemy. When corrupt, it spawns more hornets.
    • Defense Two - Harpies’ Perch: The Dryad summons a dangerous Harpy that hurls feathers. When corrupt, the feathers pierce enemies in their path.
    • Defense Three - Slime Pit: Slime Pits spawn slimes that targets enemies and explodes, dealing damage to enemies on impact. When corrupt, they deal more damage in an area and oils enemies.
    • Defense Four - Angry Nimbus: The Angry Nimbus follows enemies, dealing damage over time and drenching enemies. When corrupt, it periodically zaps enemies for high storm damage.

• New Map: Forest Biome
  • Experience the new Terraria themed map that includes some new mechanics that can change up your defense! (Can you say crafting stations?)

• New Incursion: Dawn of the Blood Moon
  • The Blood Moon has come to the Forest Biome and brings a host of different enemies and a new larger threat...

• New Enemy: Demon Eye
  • These pesky critters will fly around and poke you to death in the Forest Biome! Make sure you have some anti-air ready!

• New Boss: Eye of Cthulhu
  • Have you seen his final form!? (2spooky5me)

• New Weapons: Cranked up to ELEVEN
  • We added at least one new weapon for each hero in the game. Check out the Wayfarer to see all the new Terraria-themed weapons!

• New NPC: Wayfarer
  • The Wayfarer has traveled far to peddle goods from the recent Incursion for all heroes to enjoy! Say “Hello!” to him in the Heroes Marketplace.

Try the Dryad Right Now!

• Want to try out the Dryad before you unlock her? Head to the portal in the Heroes Marketplace and select Normalized Mode! This will let you experiment with the Dryad’s defenses and abilities in the Forest Biome.

Enhanced Training Dummies

• We’ve added new training dummies in the Heroes Marketplace and the Private Tavern.
• These new dummies will provide significantly better ways for players to track their BIG DEEPS.

Item Stacking Changes

• Multiple items now stack higher than they did previously. Just a little preview of our upcoming Inventory UI revamp hotness.

Updated My Heroes UI

• Much more informative and interactable (Google says this isn’t a word, but we don’t care) Hero UI while we work on our new UI improvements. Tooltips are finally working on this menu for PS4!

Loot Change

• Any gear with class specific passives will now be locked to that class. This is in preparation for much larger itemization changes coming in future patches!
  

Balance

Monk

• Base resistances buffed to make Monk more viable in melee.
• All root motion has been removed from combat animations.
• Sky Dragon’s Fury and Thunderball got a balance pass.
  • Damage Range increased from 100-200% to 140-200% Hero Damage.
  • Thunderball now procs 100% of the time with an 8 second internal cooldown.
  • Thunderball damaged once per second, instead of three times per second.

Squire

• Base resistances buffed to make Squire more viable in melee.
• Root motion removed from Light and Heavy attack stances.

Bug Fixes

🔥 Community Bug Fixes 🔥

This section is dedicated to bugs reported on our Bug Reporting site! Bugs labeled “Hot Issues” are next on our priority list. More community bug fixes coming in the next patch!

• Every time Frostbite Towers would try to attack the same enemy, or if an enemy would die, they’d have to re-target, which caused their firing to break. This is no longer the case. Ice to meet you, bug.
  • Thanks, Zimmermann!
• Buff beams were able to buff other buff beams. (Buff-beam-ception?) AND Buff auras buff Buff Beams which no longer buff buff beams, which no longer buff buff buff when you buff buff your buff buff.
  • Zimmermann crushing it with the buff bug reports!
• EV2’s Heat now resets to 0 when build phase begins.
  • Thanks for staying on top of this bug, K-ToF!
• “Hide Enemy Health Value” was causing Health to not display on towers and cores. Now it’s always visible.
  • Thanks for the report, Ancient Ogre!
• Some Steam achievements were not unlocking after completing the requirement.
  • So glad to finally crush this bug. Thanks,K-ToF!
• Mystic’s Dark Ritual blade was only dropping with set passives.
  • Good looking out, Hom-Sha-Bom!
• PS4 - The Logo and Intro Video did not have any sound. Now you can hear their velvety goodness.
  • There’s still a sound issue where you can hear the Main Menu music during these cutscenes. We’ll get that one next. Thanks for the report, Plic!
• Hero Critical Damage no longer bugs out when swapping characters, which caused some serious damage discrepancies. 
  • We came, we saw, we CRUSHED that bug. Thanks, Pandynator!
• Updated some text warning people that Mystic’s Split Vipers Skill Sphere does not overwrite the reduction of damage of Slow Death.
  • Good catch, Dreamanime!
• The toggle checkbox in the Options Menu for turning Damage Coalescing on and off now works correctly.
  • Pandynator is life. Pandynator is love.
• The Abyss Lord’s Colossus would attack slower after being upgraded.
  • Thanks, JoghurtDipper!
• Mystic’s Sand Viper tooltip no longer contains the “Enemies Chilled” stat.
  • Thanks for pointing that out, Talis Cat. Maybe we should add some random stuff to other defense tooltips just to keep you on your toes...
• Activating the Trick or Treat chest on the wave 7 of the Temple of the Necrotic would spawn an invulnerable skeleton.
  • Uhhhh, surprise? Good catch, Klaga!
• Abyss Lord’s Orc Blockade’s base would become displaced during Frenzy.
  • Thanks, Buddyvv!
• The Apprentice’s Harbinger Staff was spawning anon-textured AoE graphic on the ground.
  • Graphic is now TEXTURIZED thanks to Dreamanime!
• The Spooky Event title was not being rewarded.
  • A spoopy thanks to Virydis!
• Altar Assassins now primarily target players. If they can’t find a player, they will attack cores.
  • Thanks for the report, o0Exile0o!
• On Altar of Athame, it was possible to place defenses floating above the altar.
  • Thanks, geo981010!
• Sky Dragon’s Fury passive typo fixed.
  • And with this report, Zimmermann takes the cake with the most reported bugs fixed in this update!

General Bug Fixes

• The toggle checkbox in the Options Menu for turning Damage Coalescing on and off now works correctly.
• New Defender Medal Monthly Pets no longer show up as regular monthly pets at the Petrinarian.
• Hotswapping characters properly resets pet ability cooldowns.
• Skeletons no longer spawn in non-combat phases.
• Skeleton enemies no longer leave a lingering purple visual effect after death.
• EV2’s passive “Torpedo Range” got a language pass.
• The Challenge “Defender of Etheria” can only be completed in campaign and had its description updated to reflect thatintention.
• Keybinds now save when you rebind keys at the title screen
• Returning Players occasionally had the Monk and Huntress still locked when returning to the game after being inactive for awhile.
• Mystic’s Dark Torment towers would not despawn.

PS4-Specific Fixes

• When a Split-Screen player joined, sound effects stopped working until you opened the Options Menu.  There might still be occasions where this occurs. Please let us know on the Bug Reporting Site!
• The Reward Select screen in Onslaught wouldn’t show up correctly in Split-Screen.
• Scaled up the R3 button icon so that it’s more readable.
• Tooltips weren’t showing up on Item Enhancement.
• The Main Menu was interactable (dang it, Google, we’re making this a word) while the Intro Videos were playing.

Known Issues

• Watermelon is spelled with two “L’s” in Etheria…
• Phoenix projectiles spawned from Blaze Balloons via the From Ashes Passive are travelling along the ground… we’re trying to build their self-esteem back up and playing some Kenny G so they can soar once again.
• Split-screen players loading into Curse of the Blood Moon Incursion (especially on Normalized) may be missing ability icons. Hotswapping resolves this.
• My Heroes screen has some issues. We’re aware and working on them.
• Nature’s Growth does not buff other World Trees at the moment.
• If you jump mid spawn animation, the Mystic will become invisible… use that information how you will…
• We saw an issue - once - with hero decks missing heroes when loading into the normalized Curse of the Blood Moon Incursion. We couldn’t repro it, but if you manage to figure out how to reliably produce this result let us know please.
• The pressure sensitivity on some controller faceplate buttons can create some weird ‘intermediate’ press states in the newer UIs and on the Dryad’s jumping to flying transition.  TL;DR - Press hard or go home.
• If you cast a Dryad ability while transforming it will resolve as though it were cast in the starting form rather than the ending form.
• Frostbite Tower does not attack the training dummies in the tavern(s). (Don’t lie Zimmermann, you were going to report this if we didn’t call it out).

DEFENDERS,

Things are getting exciting here at Chromatic Games! With the official launch of Dungeon Defenders: Awakened on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, we’re celebrating with even more good news—a Day 1 Update with LOTS of exciting changes to both Xbox and PC (this will appear as 1.2.1 on Xbox, but it’s actually Update 1.3). Last week we teased some of the additions, revisions, and fixes included in this latest update in our Update 1.3 Preview post. Now that it’s here, let’s break down what you can expect to see in Etheria after you’re all updated.

Content

Tutorial

We’ve updated the tutorial! With the addition of new tasks and tooltips, any player can enter the Deeper Well to brush up on their defending skills. Even the most experienced defenders can reap the benefits of a new tutorial, too. Everyone who makes it to the end of the new tutorial is rewarded with the exclusive Summoner’s Hood mask to show off their mastery of the basics!

You’ll also notice there’s a new objective tracker part of the tutorial. Expect to see this throughout the entire game in future updates!

Massacre Additions
After completing the tutorial, defenders can now test their skills in the new Massacre levels within Pure Strategy and Mix Mode. These new difficulties introduce immunity-granting Siren enemies to the game modes, and defenders are handily rewarded for their successes. Here are the new loot details:

• Quality of item drops was adjusted in Pure Strategy to be equal to Survival mode.
• Quality of item drops was increased in Mix Mode at Massacre difficulty.

Performance

Enemy Counts
To improve performance for all defenders across all platforms, we felt reducing the number of enemies on all maps in Survival, Mix Mode, and Pure Strategy would do the job. We specifically focused on lowering the amount of our weakest enemies first—goblins, archers, and wyverns—because they were jamming up the lanes and unnecessarily dragging out the time it took to complete waves. After we were happy with the improved performance from those changes, we moved on to lowering the enemy counts in Survival Mode. With fewer enemies, we also adjusted wave schedules, which should result in dramatically faster wave times. Here’s a breakdown of what you can expect to see in the improved Etheria:

• 70% reduction in enemy counts for Wyverns, Archers, and Goblins on all maps.
• 50% reduction in enemy counts for Orcs, Mages, Warriors, Kobolds, and Spiders on all maps.
• Adjusted wave schedules to decrease wave lengths.

Did you think you were going to get away with fewer enemies without any catches?? Of course you didn’t. We wanted to make sure the difficulty levels remained relatively the same even with the reduction in enemy counts, so active enemies are now beefier, meaning each enemy’s HP has been increased to compensate for the smaller crowds. With such a big change, we’re going to monitor the community feedback to make sure players are happy with the new balance.

Nameplates
Nameplates are looking nifty now. We added missing nameplates above some enemies, heroes, and crystals, as well as cleaned up the general display of nameplates in game. Players should see a significant difference in the quality of the displays with this change and have a much easier time keeping track of enemy HP, a necessary feature to accompany the increased HP of enemies. Cleaning these had some nice performance gains for all platforms, so on top of looking great, they are also helping make the game run better!

Damage Numbers
Get ready for some new and improved damage numbers during combat! Last week we showed you what changes were to come in this area, and now they’re finally here. Players should notice clearer and more consistent displays of damage numbers when attacking, and fusion hits on Rifted enemies will stand out with larger number displays. Like nameplates, we hit some optimizations here as well, so your performance is better while it’s also easier to read damage numbers than before.

Limited Login Event - St. Patrick’s Day Reward!

While today is already a super special day for us at Chromatic with the official launch of DDA on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, we haven’t forgotten it’s also St. Patrick’s Day. To celebrate, we’re giving out a special green-themed goody to players who download Update 1.3 and log in to DDA by Monday, March 22. This special gift will be available for PC players today through Monday, while Xbox players will receive the patch with this cosmetic in a few days. We’ll make sure to let the Xbox defenders know when they should expect their gift!

Steam Trading Cards

You read that right - we’ve got Steam trading cards for Dungeon Defenders: Awakened now. Because we’re feeling generous today, here’s a sneak peak of a couple of the cards you’ll be able to collect:

Bug Fixes

Along with all of the exciting changes mentioned already, we also fixed a whole bunch of bugs that were bothering players (or helping them a little too much…). Here’s are the fixes defenders can see in the game.

General

• Adjusted mask positions to better fit heroes.
• Fixed an issue where Steam Family Share accounts could play Online.
• Fixed an issue where “WASD” keys still functioned as movement inputs even when replaced.
• Fixed an issue where multiple players simultaneously swapping in heroes with Gem boosts allowed them to stack.
• Fixed an issue where accessories didn’t fade out when cameras switched to first person while players were backed up against a wall.

Enemies

• Fixed an issue where enemies were stuck in Magus Quarters.
• Fixed an issue where enemies were stuck in Endless Spires.
• Fixed an issue where enemies were getting stuck in the Throne Room.
• Fixed an issue where Sirens would not attack heroes.
• Fixed an issue where Skeletons would not show they had full health when resurrected by themselves.

Gameplay

• Fixed an issue where defenses were able to be placed above the spawn door in Glitterhelm Caverns.
• Fixed an issue where defenses were able to be placed near the bottom of Lava Mines.
• Fixed an issue where some tooltips would not appear after cancelling the placement of multiple defenses.
• Fixed an issue where the inferno trap was not affecting enemies.
• Fixed an issue where leaving and rejoining a match to let players place multiple Fusion defenses wasn’t working properly.
• Fixed an issue where the Gem pet boost flickered on and off periodically.
• Fixed an issue where traps with Use Scale after swapping would have a very small scale.

Known Issues

• Some players are crashing on Xbox, we're currently investigating the issue.
• Some clients on Xbox are having issues healing. We're currently investigating this issue.
• Using gamepad, players are having issues selecting the pet and bracer slot.
• On gamepad, when pressing R3 (right joystick), your character's attribute allocation can get reset.

What’s Next?

While we’ll be monitoring this release and update, addressing any issues that may arise, we’re currently hard at work on getting our other ports for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation out the door to many eager Defenders. That’s not all, as we’re also getting a ton of work done on brand new content, including heroes, maps, enemies, and so much more! We’ll be getting word out soon to give all Defenders insight into what’s coming for DDA, and maybe a tease or two along the way.

Social Defenders

To get reliable updates on all things DDA, make sure to follow us on all our social platforms:

• Discord
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitch
• Forums

For Etheria!
Chromatic Games

DEFENDERS,

The Dungeon Defenders II update you’ve been patiently waiting for is here for Steam and Xbox (with PS4 releasing after we pass certification)! In our update preview post, we let you, our glorious defenders, in on some of our juicy secrets, but of course we had more up our sleeves. It’s time to throw away those parkas because winter is gone—don’t worry, though. Ol’ Peepers will be there to spread the gift-giving spirit YEAR ROUND. We also fixed a ton of bugs, nipped a bunch of exploits in the bud, and introduced lots of new bundles for heroes and items. Now, let’s get into all the deets!!

Winter is Over

The great thaw has begun and we will finally see an end to the polar vortex that ran amok on the Town Hub of our beloved Defenders. The Winterfest Tree and Father Winter have gone into hiding, the snow has finally melted away, and there appears to be a new character who has taken up residence here.

New Daily Login Rewards and Ol’ Peepers

Ol’ Peepers is a long-time friend of the Etherians and is finally ready to venture into the urban lifestyle this update. He’ll be delivering daily gifts and consumables for the low low price of 1000g to the good Defenders visiting the Town Hub ALL YEAR LONG. Along with the gifts you all normally expect to see when you log in daily, Ol’ Peepers will also have a chance to drop Carnival consumables. What kinds of Carnival consumables, you may ask? Check them out:

• Trust me Disguise
  • Gives the player the ability to deal 1.25x more damage for a limited time.
• Lucky Bunny Mask
  • Gives the player the ability to jump 1.5x higher for a limited time.
• Rainbow 'Fro
  • Gives the player the ability to spawn cat projectiles for a limited time.
• Snow Liger
  • Gives the player the ability to go 1.25x faster for a limited time.
• Imperial Grin
  • Gives the player 25% extra damage resistance for a limited time.

Introducing Two New Shards and a New Pet

Keep an eye out for the Lava Warrior Shard and the Boosted Beam Shard, newly added to the game. The Lava Warrior shard generates additional lava charges on successful melee attacks, bolstering the abilities of our Lavamancer. While the Boosted Beam Shard will increase the damage boost given by the Buff Beam, an exciting addition to EV-2’s arsenal.

Also, hidden among the loot of the Wyvern Den Prime Incursion is a Crystalline Betsy!

New Bundles

Let’s get pumped for some ridiculously awesome hero bundles! We felt our current offerings didn’t meet all defenders’ needs, so we went back to the drawing board and came up with a more player-focused approach to bundling that will get you more bang for your gems. Have you ever wished for the Dryad to magically pop into your hero inventory, or had your younger sibling spend all your gems behind your back without adding the must-have Gunwitch? Well, you’re in luck because our All Heroes Bundle will get you both the Dryad AND the Gunwitch AND so much more.

If you’re adding new heroes to your plate, you’ll definitely need some skins to customize your vibe. There are several new hero skin bundles to choose from now, including “Heating Up” with Molten skins and “Out of This World” with Galaxy skins. Here is the full list of new bundles:

All Heroes Bundle

• Contains the Abyss Lord, EV2, Gunwitch, Lavamancer, Mystic, Dryad, Initiate, Adept, Barbarian.
• Available for 3,200 gems for a limited time.

Hero Skin Bundles

• Legendary Guardian Supporter
  • Contains Guardian of Fire Huntress, Guardian of the Molten Citadel Squire, Guardian of the Dead Apprentice, Guardian of the Storm Monk.
• Technological Upgrade
  • Contains EV2 Mark 3, Techwitch Gunwitch, and Cybermancer Lavamancer costumes.
• Heating Up
  • Contains the Molten Master Abyss Lord, Molten Juggernaut Lavamancer, and Doomfire Regalia Adept costumes.
• Out of This World
  • Contains Galaxy Apprentice, Galaxy Squire, Galaxy Huntress, Galaxy Monk costumes.
• Very Far Away
  • Contains Dark Disciple Squire, Arcanatrooper Apprentice, Galactic Assassin Huntress, and Dark Shawl Monk costumes.

New Tower Skins

You asked for more tower skins, and we’re delivering with this Hypno Tower Skin bundle! We teased these on our social page yesterday and they’re now ready for defending. Look how perrrrrty they are (pic below) - how could you NOT grab these, like, right now? The bundle will include skins for all towers and defenses, so no excuses allowed.

We know defenders are yearning for more tower skins. Rest assured, we’re experimenting with other fun looks and hope to keep the good vibes going with more new tower skins in the future.

New Shards

The addition of the Shard Shop was such a huge success that we wanted to bring even more player-requested bundles to this space. Introducing brand-spanking-new bundles for the most in-demand shards in Etheria! Which bundle are you most excited to grab first?! That’s a serious question—we can’t decide which one to grab first for ourselves.

• Starter Defense Shard Bundle
  • 5 Destruction, 5 Fortification, and 5 Defensive Critical Damage Shards
• Advanced Defense Shard Bundle
  • 5 Deadly Strikes, 5 Defense Rate, and 5 Defensive Critical Strike Shards
• Starter Hero Shard Bundle
  • 4 Speed Boost, 4 Construction, 4 Worm Scarf, and 4 Bulwark Shards
• Advanced Hero Shard Bundle
  • 4 Critical Strike, 4 Inspiration, 4 Channel, and 4 Jackpot Shards
• Golden Destruction Bundle
  • 11 Destruction Shards + 300,000g
• Golden Fortified Bundle
  • 11 Fortification Shards + 300,000g
• Golden Damage Bundle
  • 11 Defensive Critical Damage Shards + 300,000g
• Golden Speed Bundle
  • 11 Defense Rate Shards + 300,000g

Persistent Tower Option

The excitement is real with this new quality of life update. With the Persistent Tower option, you can summon, upgrade, and sell towers by only activating each button once! We tested this out in Dungeon Defenders: Awakened and it’s been a huge success with the community. It was kind of a no-brainer for us to add it to DD2, as well. Can’t wait to hear how much you all love it!

This option will be on by default, but for those players who want to maintain the original tower placement/upgrade/sell experience, there is a menu option in Options under Gameplay called “Persistent Tower Interaction” that you can uncheck.

Balance Changes

We love hearing from the community about the good AND the not-so-good because it helps us make Etheria as enjoyable as possible for as many defenders as possible. With this, we’ve been listening to your feedback and fixed a bunch of bugs and issues reported by our dedicated defenders, and added in some fun elemental combinations to keep the game new and exciting for defenders of all levels. We also toned a few things down that were a bit too strong from overwhelming player feedback.

General

• Maps
  • Onslaught
    • The Draken Lord no longer appears in Onslaught.
• Mods
  • “Anti-” Mods
    • Damage has been reduced by 23%.
  • Controller Servo
    • Damage reduced by 16%.
  • Shocking Revelations
    • Is now “Stunning Revelations”
      • Now deals Magical Damage instead of Storm Damage.
      • Damage has been increased by 200%.
      • Now stuns for 2 seconds.
    • You can now include servos while using this mod.
• Shards
  • Draining Strikes
    • Damage reduced by 75%.
    • Is now Multiplicative instead of Additive.

Pets

• Pet damage now scales off Gear Score.
• Rebalanced ALL pets!
  • Upgrades have been buffed.
• NEW Crystalline Betsy Pet!
  • Can be found in The Wyvern Den Prime Incursion

Elemental Combos

• Fire and Oil Elemental Combo
  • Now melts enemy armor, increasing the damage they take from all sources by 25%
• Ice and Earth Elemental Combos
  • No longer require crushing damage.
  • Hitting a frozen enemy with earth damage increases the earth damage dealt and also stuns them for 2.5 seconds

Heroes

Abyss Lord

• Fiery Brimstone
  • Damage increased by 200%.

Adept

• Defenses
  • Hailstorm Tower
    • Reduced the animation to have higher damage uptime.

Barbarian

• Abilities
  • Siphon Stance
    • Base healing value reduced by 50%.

Dryad

• Defenses
  • Harpy Tower
    • Reduced the animation to have higher damage uptime.
  • Hornet’s Nest
    • Increased the number of hornets on a single enemy to 6 from 3.

Huntress

• Abilities
  • Piercing Shot Cast animation time reduced by 35%.
• Defenses
  • Explosive Trap
    • Reduced damage dropoff by 35%.
  • Geyser Trap
    • Radius increased to 800 from 400.
• Shards
  • Explosive Surprise
    • Damage radius updated to reflect Geyser Trap buff.

Lavamancer

• Shards
  • NEW Lava Warrior Shard
    • Lava Warrior Shard generates lava charges on successful melee attacks.

Series EV-2

• Defenses
  • Buff Beam
    • Increased the collision radius by 100%.
  • Reflect Beam
    • Damage done reduced by 80%.
    • DU cost per node is now 10.
• Shards
  • NEW Boosted Beam Shard!
    • Increases the damage boost by the Buff Beam.

Squire

• Shards
  • Unholy Fire
    • Damage increased by 81% and now scales off of armor.

Bug Fixes

Exploits

• We have fixed several game-breaking exploits to make the DD2 world a better place. Like a lot of them. Like building way more than you should, getting too many hyper shards, upgrading exploits, and more.
• Fixed an issue where Grave Infection and Frostfire Remnants were stacking.
• Fixed an issue where players could kill other players in Hubs.
• Fixed an issue where locked mods could be moved to other weapons.

General

• Removed Gilding for Hyper Shards.
• Fixed an issue where Grave Infection was dealing too much damage and dealing a second set of 1 damage ticks.
• Fixed an issue where the Shackled mod did not work on normal Assassins.
• Fixed a bug where the Geyser trap’s VFX was not scaling properly.
• Fixed an issue where Ancient Power no longer resets Hyper Shard progression.
• Fixed an issue where defenders could not play Floor 480.
• Fixed an issue where Harpy Tower would continue to fire after being stunned.
• Fixed a collision issue with Material Conversion Vendor.
• Fixed Ascension Monk’s Boost percentage.
• Fixed an issue where Oil Geysers were slowing Friendly players.
• Fixed an issue with the shard shop persisting tooltips when the page changes.
• Fixed a performance issue when using items with passives.

Social Defenders

To stay up-to-date on the latest news from Chromatic Games and the Dungeon Defenders franchise, follow us on all our social channels:

• Discord
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitch
• Forums

For Etheria!
Chromatic Games

Greetings Defenders,

Patch 1.0.3 is available now on all platforms! Login now to get your FREE Beat the Heat Bundle, which is available from the in-game shop. The free bundle will disappear on August 10th, so don’t miss out!

FREE Beat the Heat Bundle & Double Gold Weekend Events

Login for the next two weeks and get free, exclusive items! You’ll find your free bundle at the in-game Shop (accessible through the Shop menu on the Pause screen). These items are only available until August 10th!

• A free 4,000 Defender Medal gift!

• An exclusive Purrville the Helicatter pet!

• An exclusive Squilbur the Squid hat for the Squire!

• An exclusive PAWS the Corgi shoulder pal for the Squire!

• An exclusive shirtless beach Squire accessory!

• An exclusive Squire beach shorts accessory!

Plus we’re doing TWO Double Gold Weekend events! The first event begins this weekend!

• July 28th to July 31st:  Double Gold Weekend Event

• August 4th to August 7th:  Double Gold Weekend Event

Once you redeem the bundle, you'll find your medals in your Inventory as an item. WARNING:  Make sure you have fewer than 8,000 Medals before redeeming or you will not get the full 4,000 Medal gift!

To find your accessories after redeeming the bundle, go to the Costume Shop, go to the Wardrobe, select the Squire, choose his Default costume, and you'll find his new accessories in the appropriate slots!

Loot Drop Updates

After reviewing player feedback and diving into the data, we agree that item progress, especially in Chaos 4-7, was too slow. There were too many items spawning that only gave very small increases in power. This was making it take far too long to beef up all your characters, and the problem grew worse as you played in the later Chaos difficulties.

So with this patch, in all Chaos difficulties (but especially in Chaos 4-7), items now drop with larger power increases than before, and we’ve increased the chances of finding items with larger power increases. Not only that, but we’ve added in the occasional chance for a ‘super drop,’ which gives you a chance at items that are substantially more powerful. There’s still a good bit of randomness in the system, so don’t expect to get loads of high-powered legendaries dumped on you in your first game. But there are now far more opportunities for ‘big wins’ than there were before, and we hope players really feel it!

While we don’t consider this a blanket ‘fix’ to all the known item issues the community has highlighted, we do consider it a great step in the right direction. More changes coming soon!

Four More Chaos VII Trials Maps

We’ve added four maps to the Chaos VII Trials rotation! These maps are:

• Little-Horn Valley

• Assault on Throne Room

• Buried Bastille

• The Dead Road

You’ll encounter 8 total maps when you tackle the C7 Trials. More Trials improvements to come!

Wall Collision & Range Indicator Updates

We’ve increased the collision size on our blockades!

• The Spike Blockade collision volume is 37% larger on the X axis and 20% larger on the Y axis.

• The Volcano's square collision volume is 37% larger.

• The Training Dummy's square collision volume is 18% larger.

• The Arcane Barrier's collision volume is 66% larger on the X axis.

• The Maw of the Earth Drake's collision volume is 25% larger on the X axis.

• The Viper's Fangs collision volume is 11% larger on both the X and Y Axis.

• The Colossus' collision volume is 33% larger on its Y Axis.

In addition to this, we’ve added new range indicators on blockades to help you seal your lanes.

Trap Range Indicator Updates

All traps now display two ground decals during placement and inspection modes:  one decal displaying the trigger radius, and another decal displaying the damage range! 

Minimap Improvements

The minimap now displays damage states for defenses. On top of the flashing when they get hit, towers will change colors from green, to yellow, to flashing red when below predefined health thresholds. Defenses that have been destroyed will also show up on the minimap with a blinking icon for 3 seconds for a better at-a-glance view of your moment-to-moment action.

Optimization Improvements

This patch includes several optimization improvements to the game, which should improve framerate on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC versions. We’re exploring more optimization changes to improve framerate, particularly on the console versions. Stay tuned for more information!

Xbox One Crash Fixes

This patch includes more Xbox One crash fixes!

Inventory Improvements

We’ve added a number of Inventory improvements in Patch 1.0.3:

• Items can now be moved into bags with Auto Sort active.

• Added a Hero Level/Ascension experience bar to the Inventory.

• More Shards have unique icons now! This will help you find the Shard you’re looking for.

• The Inventory now highlights any new item that the player didn't previously own until the player focuses on the new item. This includes auto-equipped items, items that have been manually picked up by the player, and bundled items like Shards.

• Items selected in your Inventory will now highlight any valid slots on the left side Hero Manager screen, making it easier to determine which items can be equipped where.

• The number of weapons a hero can equip is now accurate, which means only the Squire has two weapon slots now!

Disable Controller Vibration Option

For those who don’t like to play with your controller shaking like an earthquake, we’ve added the option to disable controller vibration!

Game Browser Gamepad UI Changes

We’ve made several usability changes to the Game Browser UI to make it easier to join and create games on gamepads!

• When using a gamepad, the Join Game, Create Game and Refresh List options are now permanent keybinds on the Game Browser rather than physical UI buttons you have to navigate to. This should make joining and creating games MUCH easier.

• On gamepad, individual game information will now update on highlight rather than on interact.

Xbox One Vsync Option

We’ve added a Vsync option for the Xbox One version in this patch!

Controller Deadzone Updates

Thanks to a wonderful Reddit post, we’ve updated our controller joystick deadzones. In case you don’t know, deadzones relate to how far you have to move the joystick from its central resting place before the game registers movement. A large deadzone means you have to push the joystick really far to the edge before movement begins; a small deadzone means very little joystick movement is needed. The result of these changes should improve overall joystick movement and give you more useful deadzone options.

• Added Deadzone option to PC

• Deadzones are now circles instead of squares

• Updated the Deadzone slider to provide more useful deadzone options

Defense Balance Updates

Explosive Trap

While this trap has always had high damage potential, both its trigger and effect ranges limited its practical usage. We've made some quality-of-life improvements to the defense along with a slight power increase.

• Trigger Range increase 150 -> 225 (+50%)

• Base Effect Range increased 200 -> 300 (+50%)

• Defense Power ratio increase 4.5 -> 5.5 (+22%)

• Critical Damage ratio updated to match relative Defense Power change

Cannonball Tower

Our stalwart Cannonball Tower now has slightly more reach, slightly faster firing, and slightly more punch.

• Range increased 2000 -> 2,500 (+25%)

• Base Attack Rate improved 3.0s -> 2.5s (17% Faster)

• Defense Power ratio increased 9.5 -> 11.5 (+21%)

• Critical Damage ratio updated to match relative Defense Power change

Harpy's Perch

While the Harpy has good range and attack speeds, it needs a lot more punch to be competitive.

• Defense Power ratio increased 1.9 -> 4.5 (+136%)

• Critical Damage ratio updated to match relative Defense Power changes

Angry Nimbus

Angry Nimbus is now a much longer-range defense, more akin to an Earthshatter, with a wide radius. We've made it cheaper to be easier to deploy. It doesn't have as much raw DPS as other single-target defenses, but its immense range / radius should give it placement options that higher-DPS defenses can't use.

• Range increased 2,500 -> 4,000 (+60%)

• DU Cost decreased 80 -> 60 (25% Cheaper)

• Defense Power ratio decreased 47.5 -> 40 (-16%)

Obelisk

Oby's one of our most-fun defenses, but with an extremely high cost coupled with a primary attack that only deals damage to 1 target very slowly, it was pigeonholed into a very narrow role. We've radically rebalanced the Obelisk by making it cheaper, faster, and at upgraded tiers, apply its cool effects more frequently.

• Cost decreased 100 -> 40 (60% Cheaper)

• Base Attack Rate improved 4.0s -> 3.0s (33% Faster)

• Attack Rate maximum improved from 2.0s max -> 0.75s max

• Duration of CC effects slightly reduced (to counterbalance the defense having a much faster rate of fire)

• Defense Power ratio decreased 50 -> 27.5 (-45%)

• Critical Damage ratio updated (uses custom critical damage scaling equal to Defense Power ratio)

Ballista

Range has been increased for the Ballista, along with a slight rate-of-fire increase.

• Range 2500 -> 3000 (+20%)

• Base Attack Rate improved 5.0s -> 4.0s (20% Faster)

Earthshatter Tower

Earthy's undergone a major facelift, drastically reducing its cost and improving its rate-of-fire. Its per-hit damage has come down slightly, but given that it was overkilling many smaller enemies by large values, these net changes should help reduce its massive overkilling problem.

• Cost decreased 80 -> 60 (25% Cheaper)

• Base Attack Rate improved 4.0s -> 3.0s (25% Faster)

• Defense Power ratio decreased 31 -> 25 (-20%)

• Critical Damage ratio updated to match relative Defense Power change

Sand Viper

Sand Viper was pretty flexible, but it lacked enough punch to be worth it (Split Vipers aside). We've improved it to keep it competitive in its base form with other defenses.

• Defense Power ratio increased 4.0 -> 5.5 (37.5%)

• Critical Damage ratio updated to match relative Defense Power change

Lightning Strikes Aura

The Lightning Strikes Aura received a bit more of a serious redesign. We have a lot of high-cost, high single-target damage defenses already. We're changing the LSA to have much lower cost, giving it more flexibility of placement, rather than focusing on massive damage per hit.

• Cost decreased 40 -> 20 (50% Cheaper)

• Base Attack Rate improved 5.0s -> 4.0s (20% Faster)

• Attack Rate maximum improved 2.0s max -> 1.0s max

• Defense Power ratio decreased 21 -> 13 (-39%)

• Critical Damage ratio updated to match relative Defense Power change

Hornet's Nest

• Now properly scales with Defense Speed!

• Defense Power increased from 1.6 -> 2.8

• Attack Rate decreased from 0.6 base to 1.2 base

• Maximum Attack Rate updated to 0.3

Blaze Balloon

The Blaze Balloon has a strong overall damage output, but a high cost that makes it difficult to slot. We've pulled down the cost significantly to make it easier to work into existing builds.

• Cost decreased 80 -> 60 (25% Cheaper)

• Defense Power ratio decreased 22.5 -> 17.5 (-22%)

• Critical Damage ratio updated to match relative Defense Power change

Poison Dart Tower

When we updated the PDT's targeting, it went from being a 'mostly' single-target tower to a multi-target death machine, and our balance did not really sync well with that functional change. We've revised its balance to bring it down closer to other multi-target defenses like the Flame Aura, while still giving it some punch against single enemies.

• Dart Defense Power ratio increased 1 -> 1.25 (+25%)

• Poison Defense Power ratio decreased 4 -> 2 (-50%)

• Critical Damage ratio updated (uses custom critical damage scaling of 3.0)

Serpent's Coil

While the impact of Serpent's Coil is small, we want Mystic players to leverage it and have boosted its power to make it a relatively safe choice.

• Defense Power ratio increased 3.0 -> 4.5 (+50%)

• Critical Damage ratio updated to match relative Defense Power change

Skeletal Archers

Archers were decent, but they weren’t quite strong enough to compete with some of our stronger defenses. We've given the twins some more 'muscle' behind their bows, as much as skeletons can use muscle...

• Defense Power ratio increased 9.0 -> 11.5 (+27%)

• Critical Damage ratio updated to match relative Defense Power change

Weapon Manufacturer

Well, apparently the weapon manufacture was mostly manufacturing auras, but very few weapons. We've reduced the overall damage output of its auras in the hopes that it still sees some use, but leans more heavily on the weapon aspect and a little less on the aura aspect.

• Defense Power ratio decreased 4 -> 3.25 (-19%)

• Fixed a bug where the node increase Shard effect would remain on built WMs after removing the Shard from the relic

• Critical Damage ratio updated to match relative Defense Power change

Other Balance Changes

Tiny Ogres (Campaign)

• Tiny Ogres (Campaign) now have the same rough health/dps as a T3 Drakin

Abyss Stone

Abyss Stone has been refactored. We've enabled proper Criticals and drastically increased the damage-per-hit but reduced its duration. The net result is roughly the same total damage, but with much higher damage-per-second. Additionally, Abyss Stones no longer interfere with the placement of future Abyss Stones.

• Ability Power ratio increased 6.0 -> 11.0

• Criticals properly enabled (uses default 15x ratio and proper Hero Crit Chance)

• Duration decreased 8s -> 6s

• Attack Rate slowed 0.5s -> 1.0s

Knight of the Abyss

KoA has been almost exclusively the go-to ability for the Abyss Lord, even after our last round of changes, and we're trying to breakup his combat gameplay a bit more by reducing his reliance purely on KoA for both damage and stuns by making this change alongside the Abyss Stone refactor.

• Ability Power ratio slightly decreased 21.5 -> 20.0

Shatter Combo/Frosty Proton Node

We’ve also finally made some updates to the Shatter combo effect. While we’re super happy to see players using Frosty Proton Node to setup this combo, we felt that the potential damage output of the Shatter effect was a bit too strong. We really didn’t want to nerf Frosty Proton Node, and there was certainly no call to nerf the Cannonball Tower, Earthshatter Tower, etc., so we went with a reduction to the Shatter effect itself. Shatter will still obliterate weaker enemies like Goblins, but after this patch, it will no longer be a guaranteed kill on tougher enemies like Drakin and Berserkers. We’ve also fixed it so it can now damage minibosses / special enemies, instead of just consuming the Freeze and having no effect.

Geode Prime Special Enemy

Geode Prime now has been updated to be a correct special miniboss.

• Health and Tenacity increased substantially

• Size and Collision increased as well

• Loot fixed to have the same loot drops/chances as other specials/minibosses

Other Changes

• Betsy weapons have been added to the Wayfarer shop.

• Monk’s Pole Smash can be activated in mid-air.

• When the Inventory is full and auto-collect is set to pick up items, those items are now sent to the Scavenger.

• A text announcement will now display when opening an individual Shard Pack letting you know what Shard you received.

• Updated the Xbox One and PS4 Options menu UI.

• Increased the placement range of EV2’s nodes.

• Volume will now update in real-time when adjusting the sliders in the Options menu.

• Ground lane wisps will now only appear in Campaign Normal.

• Updated Explosive Trap VFX and scaled them up a bit.

• Updated melee impact VFX for Squire and Monk.

• Buff Beam description updated to mention Defense Crit Damage effect.

• Increased Summary Screen timer to 90 seconds.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an item duping bug. All duped gear has been removed. Thanks for reporting this, Defenders! You da real MVPs.

• Made multiple changes to reduce the likelihood of seeing an infinite loading screen.

• Added a possible solution for inventory data getting wiped.

• Fixed a memory leak related to defenses.

• Relics will now properly drop while playing as the Gunwitch.

• The Zapper special enemy will appear in Chaos VII Trials once again! Mwahahaha!

• Fixed a stuck Siege Roller spawning issue in the Ramparts.

• Fixed a bug where the Invert Y Axis option wasn’t working properly.

• Fixed a bug where the Apprentice, Gunwitch and Lavamancer auto-collect options weren’t working properly.

• Fixed a bug where loot could drop without stats if it dropped while loading into a map.

• Fixed a bug where Abyss Stones couldn’t be placed in the same spot as a previous Stone.

• Fixed a bug where Slime Pits and Hornet's Nests would occasionally ignore enemies within range.

• Fixed multiple bugs where Shards weren’t dealing the correct damage type (Ability Power vs. Hero Damage, etc.)

• Slime Pit Slimes no longer try to attack flying enemies.

• Fixed a bug where the mouse cursor set itself to the upper-left corner instead of centered on screen when entering into menus.

• Fixed a bug where interacting with an item before the tooltip of the item loaded caused the tooltip to never unload.

• The Use Key context icon no longer appears enabled and usable on the open Lockbox UI when you don't have a key.

• Fixed a bug where the victory hero waving animations didn’t always play.

• Fixed a bug where the reticle didn’t correctly change colors for players, NPCs and objectives.

• Fixed a camera issue with the Seamstress.

• Fixed animation flickering issues with the Initiate’s Chi Stomp.

• The Monthly Mission pets from the DM shop are now display their proper meshes when viewed in the Petrinarian UI.

• Incursion weapons that drop in maps now have the correct level requirements.

• Fixed a bug where the Gunwitch's weapon wasn’t now properly displaying to other players.

• Fixed an issue where some cutscenes weren’t rendering properly.

• Fixed a bug where the Apprentice’s right-click animation wouldn’t play in mid-air.

• Fixed the name of the Glaive of Storms in the Wayfarer shop.

• Fixed a bug where purchasing a premium egg and then incubating it right afterward would cause a temp/placeholder icon to appear in Hatchery UI.

• Fixed a bug where Inventory Tooltips for Weapons, Gear and Pets in the top Inventory rows would get cut off in the comparison view.

• Fixed a bug where attempting to bind ` or Tab would break all functionality on the controls screen.

• Fixed several visual bugs and collision issues on the Hot Springs map.

• Fixed a bug where the controller users couldn’t scroll the Summary Screen on 4:3 resolutions.

• Fixed a bug where the Haunting Shard VFX was off center of weapon. Now spawns from center of player.

• Fixed a bug where the Siege Roller would get stuck when killing a blockade with a node nearby.

• Fixed a bug where the Call of the Kobold Shard VFX was not deactivating properly.

• Fixed a bug on PC where changing the Graphics Quality Preset option using a gamepad caused it to stick there.

• Removed some non-obscene phrases from the profanity filter.

• Fixed a visual bug with the Lockbox UI.

• Fixed a visual bug with the Initiate’s Defense Boost aura where the VFX would remain after the ability was finished.

• Fixed a visual bug with the Empowered Beam projectile.

• Fixed a bug where Hero Crit DMG and Elemental DMG sorting wasn’t accessible by gamepad.

• Fixed a bug where the hatchery UI would become unusable if a player incubated a Defender Medal egg but closed the UI without actually hatching it.

• Fixed a VFX bug with EV2’s Proton Charge ability.

• Bag Inventory warning no longer overlaps Quest UI.

• The Level Up popup no longer overlaps with the Build Phase/Combat Phase/Wave Complete popups.

• Fixed a bug where the Dryad World Tree’s “Damage Taken” stat wasn’t accurately displaying.

• PS4 - The Reset to Defaults popup in the Options menu no longer gets cut off with split-screen active.

• Fixed a bug where the Lavamancer’s right-click could move players into spawn points.

• Fixed a bug where a Weapon Manufacturer node could be placed inside a Flame Aura by inspecting the aura.

• Fixed a typo in the Sandstorm Warrior tooltip to accurately reflect its damage.

• Fixed a VFX issue with the Blaze Balloon while using the Corrupted Tower Skin set.

• Fixed a bug where hotswapping heroes would cause the hero to die.

• Automeow & G4-T0 are now able to roll their unique pet abilities again.

• Fixed a bug where the Inspiring Strikes Shard could trigger from defense attacks.

• Fixed a bug where certain special enemies weren’t spawning on the Forest Poachers Incursion.

• Fixed a bug where the Overwhelming Buster weapon Shard could be equipped to non-weapons.

• Fixed a bug where the Charged Shot weapon Shard could be equipped to non-weapons and incompatible weapons.

• Fixed a bug where sometimes keybindings couldn’t be rebound.

• Fixed a bug where the top bar UI currency element would disappear.

• Fixed a bug where the Apprentice marks wouldn’t clear properly if the Apprentice is hotswapped to another hero,

• Fixed a bug where the Fiery Brimstone Shard would appear to be equippable for non-Tomes.

• Fixed a bug where Harbinger Shards were dealing more damage to Siege Rollers than intended.

• Fixed a bug where Inspect Defense could not be used on EV2 defenses in certain situations.

• Fixed a bug where volume options when opening certain menus.

• Fixed a bug where the Skeletal Ramster would not hit targets close to it while under the effects of Direct Command.

• Fixed a bug where Shards in the World Tree would not get reapplied if the Tree was rebuilt after being destroyed.

• Fixed a bug where using Pole Smash on larger enemies that can’t get knocked up would still let the Skyguard attack them.

• Fixed an inventory icon VFX issue.

• Fixed a bug with flying enemy icons on the minimap.

• Fixed a bug with shop item tooltips not displaying correctly.

• Fixed a bug where the Ascension button would sometimes not be active when opening the Inventory.

• Fixed a bug where the Dryad was able to use abilities during transformation.

• Fixed a bug where using the Dryad’s Starfall immediately after transforming would cause the ability to malfunction.

• Fixed a bug where enemies would occasionally spawn under the map on Greystone Plaza.

• Fixed a bug where the Skeletal Orc blockade would incorrectly accept Direct Command before fully spawning in.

• Fixed a projectile firing issue with single-shot Polearms where the projectiles weren’t going towards enemies properly.

• Fixed a VFX problem with Legendary weapons on the Shard Equip screen.

• Fixed a VFX problem with the Flamethrower tower.

• Fixed a bug where enemies were able to walk up walls and around light posts on Little-Horn Valley.

• Fixed a bug where the Harbinger’s ranged attack wasn’t properly damaging certain defenses.

• Fixed a bug where the Dryad could get visually stuck in corrupt form when hotswapping.

• Fixed a VFX issue at the Costume Shop.

• Fixed a bug where the Split Vipers Shard could also grant the Constrictor Shard bonus without having the Constrictor Shard equipped.

• Fixed a VFX issue with the “New” icon on maps after unlocking them.

• Fixed a bug where the Fissure defense would remain “busy” if the wave ends while recharging.

• Fixed an issue with enemies getting stuck in spawners on Nimbus Reach.

• Fixed a text issue with the Fissure of Embermount.

• Fixed various text issues with the Heroes Marketplace.

• Fixed various text issues with the Emporium.

• Fixed a bug where one of the Buried Bastille cores did not have the correct health value.

• Fixed a bug where the Campaign boss timers were appearing in Chaos Trials.

• Fixed a bug where the gamepad controls would sometimes appear on the Game Browser while using mouse/keyboard.

• Fixed a bug where the full size of the buttons on the Summary Screen were not fully interactable.

• Fixed a bug where players using gamepads would be unable to join Public Games on the War Table if the auto-collect message would appear.

• Fixed a bug where players could get trapped inside the falling ships on the Betsy map.

• Fixed an issue where the flying lane icons would not appear on the Dawn of the Blood Moon Incursion.

• Fixed a VFX issue with the Ghastly Halberd.

• Fixed an issue with the taunt VFX from Shards.

• Fixed a VFX issue on the Create Hero screen.

Known Issues

• The Minimum Ascension Filter does not work when using the Continue function. This is something we’re going to fix in our upcoming patches.

• (PC) The controller will not work if you turn on the controller while on the Main Menu after a fresh boot of the game. Rebooting the game or waiting until you reach the Tavern or Town to turn on the controller will get around this issue.

Greetings Defenders,

It’s been a busy few weeks! We were absolutely blown away by the launch reception. As more players dove into the game, we scrambled to put out the server fires. You may have noticed several patches and maintenance updates since launch, which we’re pleased to report have greatly improved our server stability. On the Xbox One side, these server issues also caused several crashing issues -- most of which were fixed in last week’s patch! There’s still work to do, but things are looking brighter by the day.

Alongside Xbox One and server fixes, our team is working on Patch 1.0.3! This patch contains loot tweaks, balance changes, optimization updates, quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes based on the feedback we’ve seen since launch. It also includes a little something special for sticking with us through the launch madness! We’re still finalizing and testing the patch, so we don’t have a release date for Patch 1.0.3 yet. We’ll have a release date for you soon!

Here’s what’s coming in the patch:

FREE Beat the Heat Bundle & Weekend Events

In Patch 1.0.3, we’re giving away some exclusive gifts for hanging with us through our launch kinks. These items will only be available for a limited time once the patch comes out:

• A free 4,000 Defender Medal gift

• A free, exclusive Purrville the Helicatter pet!

• A free, exclusive Squilbur the Squid hat for the Squire!

• A free, exclusive PAWS the Corgi shoulder pal for the Squire!

• A free, exclusive shirtless beach Squire accessory!

• A free, exclusive Squire beach shorts accessory!

• And our eternal gratitude, which is the most priceless gift of all. Literally. It has absolutely no real-world value. Damn you, society!

Plus we’re doing TWO Double Gold Weekend events when the patch comes out! Keep your eyes peeled for more details on these free items!

Xbox One Crash Fixes

This patch will include more Xbox One crash fixes. It’s also our goal to release another hotfix before this patch releases with even more crash fixes!

Loot Drop Updates

After reviewing player feedback and diving into the data, we agree that item progress, especially in Chaos 4-7, is too slow. There are too many items spawning that only give very small increases in power. This is making it take far too long to beef up all your characters, and the problem gets worse as you play in the later Chaos difficulties.

So with this patch, in all Chaos difficulties (but especially in Chaos 4-7), items will drop with larger power increases than before, and we’re increasing the chance of finding items with larger power increases. Not only that, but we’re adding in the occasional chance for a ‘super drop,’ which gives you a chance at items that are substantially more powerful. There’s still a good bit of randomness in the system, so don’t expect to get loads of high-powered legendaries dumped on you in your first game. But there are now far more opportunities for ‘big wins’ than there were before, and we hope players really feel it!

While we don’t consider this a blanket ‘fix’ to all the known item issues the community has highlighted, we do consider it a great step in the right direction. More changes coming soon!

Four More Chaos VII Trials Maps

We’re adding four maps to the Chaos VII Trials rotation! These maps are:

• Little-Horn Valley

• Assault on Throne Room

• Buried Bastille

• The Dead Road

You’ll encounter 8 total maps when you tackle the C7 Trials. More Trials improvements to come!

Wall Collision & Range Indicator Updates

We’re increasing the collision size on our blockades!

• The Spike Blockade collision volume is 37% larger on the X axis and 20% larger on the Y axis.

• The Volcano's square collision volume is 37% larger.

• The Training Dummy's square collision volume is 18% larger.

• The Arcane Barrier's collision volume is 66% larger on the X axis.

• The Maw of the Earth Drake's collision volume is 25% larger on the X axis.

• The Viper's Fangs collision volume is 11% larger on both the X and Y Axis.

• The Colossus' collision volume is 33% larger on its Y Axis.

In addition to this, we’ve added new range indicators on blockades to help you seal your lanes.

Trap Range Indicator Updates

All traps now display two ground decals during placement and inspection modes:  one decal displaying the trigger radius, and another decal displaying the damage range!

Minimap Improvements

The minimap now displays damage states for defenses. On top of the flashing when they get hit, towers will change colors from green, to yellow, to flashing red when below predefined health thresholds. Defenses that have been destroyed will also show up on the minimap with a blinking icon for 3 seconds for a better at-a-glance view of your moment-to-moment action.

Balance Updates

We’re making numerous balance updates to specific defenses with this patch, with a special focus on a few of our less frequently used defenses.

Most of our fixed-target towers (Cannonball Tower, Harpy’s Perch, Earthshatter Tower, etc.) will see a substantial increase in their overall DPS. This is a straight stat boost to these towers, trying to make them competitive with defense that can hit many targets. We want to see these towers leveraged more, especially in Chaos difficulties where projectile towers are expected to shine.

Defenses with extremely slow ATK Rates (Earthshatter, Lightning Strikes Aura, etc.) will see some improvements in their ATK Rate. While we’re not expecting every defense to hit as fast as the Flame Aura, the slow ATK Rates on these defenses has lead to a lot of ‘overkill’ damage and general targeting failures. These defenses will fire faster by roughly a second or so than they are currently, with corresponding adjustments to Defense Power and Crit Damage ratios.

Next up, many of our defenses with very high DU/Mana costs will see their base costs come down. Defenses like the Blaze Balloon have proven hard to use, despite their relatively high DPS outputs, and we want to get them back into regular usage. This change is intended to be more of a usability improvement and not a straight stat buff, so we’re accompanying these changes with corresponding reductions to their Defense Power and Crit Damage ratios when appropriate.

There’s a few bug fixes going in that will affect balance as well. Swapping shards to temporarily increase the max nodes on some of EV2’s defenses has been eliminated; you must leave the shard on the defense or the extra nodes are removed. We’ve also fixed a terrible bug with Hornet’s Nest that was crippling its DPS, and it should result in it being quite a powerful defense again!

We’ve also finally made some updates to the Shatter combo effect. While we’re super happy to see players using Frosty Proton Node to setup this combo, we felt that the potential damage output of the Shatter effect was a bit too strong. We really didn’t want to nerf Frosty Proton Node, and, there was certainly no call to nerf the Cannonball Tower, Earthshatter Tower, etc., so we went with a reduction to the Shatter effect itself. Shatter will still obliterate weaker enemies like Goblins, but after this patch it will no longer be a guaranteed kill on tougher enemies like Drakin and Berserkers. We’ve also fixed it so it can now damage minibosses / special enemies, instead of just consuming the Freeze and having no effect.

And while the reign of the Weapon Manufacturer (and to a lesser extent, the Poison Dart Tower) has been interesting, it’s proven to be too much of a ‘one stop shop’ solution to many Chaos difficulties. As such, we’re making some adjustments to reduce its dominance, with the hopes of seeing diversity increase with these changes plus our numerous defense buffs.

We hope these changes will improve diversity and flexibility amongst builders in all Chaos difficulties! Fans of the Mystic and the Obelisk will want to take special note, as it’s undergoing some pretty radical balance updates with this patch. (It’s basically hit by every one of our core changes listed above!)

Optimization Improvements

This patch includes several optimization improvements to the game, which should improve framerate across all three platforms but particularly on the PS4 and Xbox One versions. We’re exploring more optimization changes to improve framerate on the console versions. Stay tuned for more information!

Inventory UI & Shard Icon Tweaks

We’re adding a number of Inventory UI improvements in Patch 1.0.3:

• More Shards have unique icons now! This will help you find the Shard you’re looking for.

• The Experience/Ascension bar is now permanently located on the Inventory screen

• The Inventory now highlights any new item that the player didn't previously own until the player focuses on the new item. This includes auto-equipped items, items that have been manually picked up by the player, and bundled items like Shards.

• Items selected in your Inventory will now highlight any valid slots on the left side Hero Manager screen, making it easier to determine which items can be equipped where.

• The number of weapons a hero can equip is now accurate, which means only the Squire has two weapon slots now!

Disable Controller Vibration Option

For those who don’t like to play with your controller shaking like an earthquake, we’re adding the option to disable controller vibration!

Game Browser UI Changes

We’re making several usability changes to the Game Browser UI to make it easier to join and create games on controllers!

Xbox One Vsync Option

We’re adding a Vsync option for the Xbox One version in this patch!

Controller Deadzone Updates

Thanks to a wonderful Reddit post, we’re exploring updates to our controller joystick deadzones. In case you don’t know, deadzones relate to how far you have to move the joystick from its central resting place before the game registers movement. A large deadzone means you have to push the joystick really far to the edge before movement begins; a small deadzone means very little joystick movement is needed. The result of these changes should improve overall joystick movement and give you more useful deadzone options. This is a stretch goal for the patch, so if it doesn’t come out in this patch, it’ll come out in the patches following.

Bug Fixes

Finally, this patch will contain a number of bug fixes, including a fix for the auto-collect options not working properly.

Thanks for your support, Defenders, and stay tuned for more information on Patch 1.0.3 and the FREE Beat the Heat bundle!

Love,
The Trendy Team

Hey all! We’re proud to announce that we’ve partnered with Sony to bring Dungeon Defenders II exclusively to the PlayStation 4! In fact, you’ll be able to play the game tomorrow on PS4 at the PlayStation Experience. If you’re going, be sure to stop by Sony’s booth to say hi. We’ll have various people at their booth all day showing off the game.

Stay tuned to our blog for more details on the PS4 version in the future. We still have a ton of work to do, but we’re excited to finally be bringing Dungeon Defenders back to a console. We’ve just completed our first controller pass (it needs a bunch of work!) and are exciting to dig into some other features, like local co-op and a controller-based UI. And yes, all of those features will also be coming to the PC version!

Dungeon Defenders II is officially out of Early Access and free-to-play on Xbox One, PC & PS4! With this major milestone in our game’s history, we’re releasing Update 1.0.

Update 1.0 focuses on our New Player Experience. This update fixes a ton of bugs, adds a lot of polish, introduces more quality-of-life changes, improves our early-game experience, and gets new players through Campaign and deep into Chaos. After today, we’re spinning up on features and changes you’ve been asking for (Endless Mode says hi).

We’ve been in Early Access for more than two years. With more than 60+ updates, Dungeon Defenders II has grown up before our very eyes. It’s been exciting and, quite frankly, a little unnerving to develop a game with you watching every step of the way. Our growth and improvement is because of your support, your feedback and the dedicated members of our team who went above and beyond to drive our game forward. We’re proud of where Dungeon Defenders II is today, but launch is just the beginning. With your support, Dungeon Defenders II is only going to get bigger and better!

Here are the notes for Update 1.0:

Xbox One Version Available Now!

Brewed in secrecy, the Xbox One version is finally here! Download the game for free here.

The Xbox One version includes:

• All of the content & features from the other versions of the game

• A limited-time exclusive map & Incursion:  Yeti’s Revenge

  • This map and Incursion will be available on PC & PS4 in our next major update!

• An exclusive pet

• An exclusive weapon

Features

The Initiate

Come on and SLAM!

The Initiate is our first gender-swap hero. This powerful Chi-wielding warrior is the gender swap of our bald friend, the Monk. She uses the same defenses as the Monk, but she comes with a suite of new abilities:

• Chi Stomp:  A powerful slam that can be activated in mid-air!

• Crippling Chi Wave:  The Initiate builds up a glowing ball of Chi and launches it at her enemies, which damages and debuffs any enemies hit!

• Talisman of Empowerment:  The Initiate places a talisman on the ground that temporarily boosts the power of nearby defenses!

The Initiate is available at a lower Gem and Defender Medal price than other heroes. And don’t worry:  The Barbarian will have his time to shine soon.

Updated Tutorials

Play our all new Tutorial map and check out our new Tutorial videos with the new How To Play Menu! The new videos and map cover a variety of helpful hints, tips, and tricks that will aid in your defense of Etheria!

Updated Story and Campaign

Etheria has never felt so alive! Play through the updated story in our revamped Campaign experience and stave off the Old Ones advance. Prepare for new threats and twists that will appear. Make sure to keep an eye out during Build Phase!

New Summary Screen & Score System

At the end of each map, whether you win or lose, there’s a new summary screen that will score you based on your performance. Our new scoring system includes many different modifiers and bonuses to help you tweak your builds and get higher and higher on your personal mental leaderboard. Shortly after the release of score, we’ll add some form of score tracking for players to see!

Updated HUD & Health Bars

We’ve updated a number of our Heads-Up Display elements to make the UI cleaner while providing more information. The biggest change is the addition of hero deck hotkeys above the Health Bar. Now you can easily see which hero is in which hero deck slot hotkey, which is especially handy if you’re the kind of player who constantly rotates heroes in and out of your Hero Deck!

New Tower Skins

Check out the all new Bit Crush Dryad, Woodland Apprentice, and Hypno Abyss Lord Tower Skins! (Time for an Abyss Lord/Monk defensive DANCE PARTY! Unce unce unce #hype)

New Shard Icons

We’ve added new iconography for some of the most popular Shards in the game. We’ll continue to improve on our Shard icons after launch!

• Channel - Icon Type Change

• Inspiration - Icon Type Change

• Hero Critical Strike - Minor Border Change

• Life Leech - Icon Type Change

• Speed Boost - Icon Type Change

• Superconductor - Icon Type Change

• Construction - Icon Type Change

• Explosive Guard - Icon Type Change

• Defensive Critical Damage - Minor Border Change

• Destruction - Minor Border Change

• Fortification - Minor Border Change

• Deadly Strikes - Icon Type Change

• Panic Fire - Icon Type Change

• Press Your Luck - Icon Type Change

Incursions & Legendary Weapons

As part of our New Player Experience, we’ve introduced Incursions into Chaos! The goal of our Incursions is to provide variety and progression milestones as players progress through Chaos.

Each Chaos tier will now have its own unique Incursions. After completing an Incursion, you’ll unlock unique Legendary weapons at the Wayfarer! The Wayfarer will forge these unique weapons based on your highest powered hero. The Wayfarer will sell these weapons for Defender Medals, so be sure to sell those Souls4Gold when the update comes out!

As for long-term gameplay variety in our endgame, we have a number of interesting changes and features we’re going to add post-launch. Stay tuned!

New Weapons

In addition to the Wayfarer weapons, we’ve added many new weapon models to the game across many of our different heroes. Go forth and get that sweet new loot!

PS4 Optimization

This update improves PS4 framerate, especially when a lot of enemies are on-screen at once. This is just the first of our optimization updates for the PS4 -- shortly after launch, we have a litany of other changes that should improve framerate even more!

Quality of Life

• Added a new Minimum Ascension Level host option.

• Added the ability to rename your heroes for free in the Inventory.

• Added controller sensitivity option on PC.

• Revamped range indicator decals for visibility.

• Now you can play and access everything on PC with a controller, including the Options Menu!

• Added the names of defenses under relic slots.

• Added Server Region display to the Main Menu.

• Improved the Flamethrower Tower’s visual effects.

• Added a minimap and NPC blips to the Heroes Marketplace.

• Improved player name display with proper capitalization!

• Added a “Hold <blank> to rotate tower” for PC controller users.

• Improved and unified the look of many different UIs.

• Updated the first quest in the game to have smarter text and a better UI.

• Victory chests show up on all minimaps.

• The War Table in the Private Tavern should now default to Private Games. Such private. Many seekrits.

• Updated the game icon to the Squire’s Head. This was the most important change of all.

Balance

Core Health

• Increased the core health in Chaos to protect against enemies one-shotting the core

Shards

• Ballista - Black Arrow damage increased from 50% to 60%.

• Cannonball - Stun Fire proc increased to 25% and stun duration from 2.4 to 3.0 seconds.

• Cannonball - Heavy Cannonball damage increased from 950% to 1250%.

• Earthshatter - Earth Toss proc chance increased from 35% to 100%. Knockup duration increased slightly.

• Fire for Effect chance increased from 25% to 45%

• Flame Aura - Encroaching Flames proc chance increased from 25% to 30% and damage increased from 40% to 60%.

• Skeletal Archer - Explosive Arrows proc chance increased from 15% to 30% and damage increased from 110% to 450%.

• Snakes on a Plane - Proc chance increased from every 5 seconds to every 3 seconds and damage increased from 525% to 3000%.

• Enduring Bubble - Levels increased from 8 to 10. Buff duration decreased from +5 seconds to +2 seconds.

• Lateral Blast - Damage increased from 725% to 2250%.

• Mega Rock - Proc chance increased from every 10 volleys to every 5 volleys. Damage increased from 1150% to 4000%.

• Frosty Proton Node - Proc chance increased from 5% to 25%, duration decreased from 5 to 2 seconds.

• Gunwitch’s Hunting Blind Tower damage unchanged from 0% to 0%.

Betsy Weapons

• Betsy weapons now have their shards locked in a shard slot to mimic their old, pre-shard passive effects.

• Apprentice and Huntress Betsy Weapons have had updated firing rates and damage to better match our new balanced solutions.

• Updated Betsy’s Empowered Lightning Shard description to make more sense.

Bug Fixesss

• Fixed another magical Proton beam crash. Huzzah!

• Fixed an issue with an endless black screen after multiple loading screens.

• Hero Information and Currency indicators should no longer overlap.

• Improved fullscreen and windowed game display modes.

• Fixed another Siege Roller stuck issue.

• Power Transfer Shard functions when equipped to Boost Aura now.

• “Speeds” are “Orbs” again.

• “Skulls” are “Marks” again. We have no idea how that happened.

• This also means the Orb and Mark filters work again!

• Abyss Lord’s Abyss Stones are now able to crit.

• This update fixes a bug where multiplayer enemy health scaling was scaling higher than intended. Per-player enemy health scaling is now +25% rather than +50%. Go forth and defend with friends!

• Fixed an issue where you could not drop a Shard onto a bag icon.

• Shard Packs and Shards should go through the proper auto-collect flow now.

• Fixed a text pop up at a really high Ascension level.

• Jumping and using the right click dash on the Lavamancer should work properly now while dashing around the map. No more randomly hitting invisible walls! HOORAY!

• The Ogres on the Forest Ambush Incursion thought it’d be really cool to just T-pose for fun. We set them straight.

• The crosshair reticle should now turn the correct colors when targeting allies and other things in game. It will be colors other than red now! ADDITIONAL HOORAYS.

• Updated several error message text to make more sense.

• The resolution selector in the Options Menu is now scrollable with scroll wheels.

• The World Tree now properly gets destroyed during the Victory animation if it’s too close to the Victory Chests.

• Updated the description on the Shadowflame Dagger.

• Updated the consumable tooltip to use the new UI.

• Combined Power - Serpent’s Coil beams will now attack training dummies.

• Updated the error text if there are no marked targets for Arcane Volley.

• Gunwitch’s Snipe Critical Damage Shard no longer applies to all elemental damage.

• Fixed the Level 50 Level Up Pop Up to show Level 50 instead of “Level 0”.

• Renamed the default hero names to their classes.  Squire is now “Squire.”  Monk is now “Monk.”  Barbarian is now “Pete.”

• Fixed a challenge display issue where it would render completed challenges twice in the UI.

• Flame Aura properly calculates crit damage and chance into its inspected DPS number.

• Fixed a matchmaking issue where if Player 2 declines, then Player 1 gets an “Unknown Error.”

• Fiery Brimstone Shard now only works for the Abyss Lord as originally designed and fixed the critical damage scaling on the procs from 100% to 12% where it should be.

• Unequipping items will go through the auto-collect flow and go to the bags that they should be.

• Fixed an issue where swapping to EV2 Mark III was causing a rogue torso to display.

• Fixed Drakken’s eyes and mouths to be glowing properly.

• Added a notification that a party request has been sent to another player.

• The “Could not authenticate with Steam… try again?” pop up was missing some buttons.  We gave them back.

• Fixed a crash if you had selected Exit on a menu screen while an immediate message was being displayed.

• Mystic’s Dark Torment damage over time critical effect is no longer scaling inversely with hero damage.

• Fixed a billboard issue on Siege of the Throne Room.

• Fixed an area where Kobolds could get stuck in the Ruins.

• G4T0’s facial animations have been restored! Beep boop. Bloop.

• Fixed a boost aura description typo.  “Precentage” is right… right?

• Fixed small lighting issues on the Dryad Hornet’s Nest and Slime Pit.

• Monk’s alternate attack is no longer blocked by towers.

• Fixed the wyvern death animation.

• The Weapon Filter on the Filter By… bag no longer has defense stat options.

• Fixed a spot on Dragonfall Plaza where the Dryad could exit the map.

• Fixed several small issues with tower damage challenges.

• Fixed a massive performance issue with Shield Geodes.  Should be most noticeable on PS4.

• PS4 - Dark Torment’s visual effects now display properly.

Known Issues

• No “Press G to End Match” message is displayed after beating wave 4 on Airship Battle. This is only a visual problem and G still functions correctly.

• Glaive of Storms isn’t currently purchasable in the wayfarer shop. It still unlocks and drops from the Power Surge Incursion.

• Glaive of Storms’ unique shard is missing its icon.

Dungeon Defenders II is launching on Xbox One, PC & PS4 on June 20th!

For more than two years, we’ve delivered 60+ updates during Early Access. We’re finally ready to tell the world that Dungeon Defenders II is officially here. And we’re excited to tell people that, yes, we’re bringing our game to the Xbox One!

On June 20th, Dungeon Defenders II will be free-to-play on ALL platforms. If you’ve been waiting for F2P to jump into the PS4 version, or if you’ve been waiting for the Steam version to leave Early Access, that day is your day.

When the Xbox One version launches, it'll come with an exclusive pet, an exclusive weapon and a limited-time exclusive map. The new map will make its way to the other versions shortly after the release of the Xbox One version! What is that new map? Perhaps the trailer above offers some clues.

We know you have plenty of questions. We’ve tried to anticipate and answer the more popular ones below, but if you have another question, ask us in the comments!

Your Anticipated Questions

First of all, how hard was it to keep the Xbox One version a secret?

SO DAMN HARD. You have no idea how many times we wanted to tell people. Yes, we love our Xbox fans, and we can’t wait for you to experience Dungeon Defenders II three weeks from now!

Is Xbox One free-to-play?

Yes! From the very first day, the Xbox One version is free-to-play.

Is the Xbox One version up-to-date with the PC & PS4 versions?

We’re working right now to get the Xbox One version as close to the PC & PS4 versions as possible. If it’s not at parity with the other versions on launch day, we’ll get the Xbox One version on parity shortly thereafter.

Will the Xbox One version always be up-to-date with the PC & PS4 versions?

On the Xbox One, we need to put our updates through a more stringent certification process than we do on PC or PS4. It’s our goal to release Xbox One updates as close to day-and-date as possible, but the cert process could mean that Xbox One updates could come out a little later.

Is this the end of development?

NO. With your support, we’re going to bring new content, new features, quality-of-life changes, optimization improvements, continued bug fixes and so much more to Dungeon Defenders II.

What are you working on between now and launch?

"Those who want Power must cast themselves into the Chaos." - A quote we totally didn't make up.

Greetings Defenders,

Trials: The Endgame Update is the systems update you’ve been waiting for. We’re improving progression, herocrafting, strategy, challenge and so much more. We’re pouring every ounce of ourselves into our most ambitious update yet, and we hope you’ll love it as much as we do when it comes out soon.

There’s a lot in this update, which also includes new threats, new difficulties, new ways to play, a new Inventory, balance updates, quality of life improvements, bug fixes and more, but this week, let’s focus on the new power you’ll find in the update:

Shards: A New Way to Build Your Hero

Our brave Etherian scouts ventured deep into the emerging Chaos. While evading fearsome new foes, they discovered powerful new artifacts called Shards! Shards slot into your Defenses, Weapons and Armor where your passives once were. Shards give you extra buffs, bonuses and sometimes even new functionality, which can be upgraded to augment your defensive capacity!

Defenses can hold up to three Defense Shards; Weapons and Armor can hold up to two Hero Shards. When you enter the new update, you’ll find your previously acquired gear -- slightly modified -- alongside a complimentary collection of Shards to start you on your way. Those with iPWR 750 loot will initially venture further into Chaos than other players by leveraging these complimentary Shards, but all will eventually find their way to greater iPWR glory (more on this in a future report). Best of all, most Shards can be moved between gear, which allows you to modify and improve your builds without losing earned progress!

Gone are the days when you bowed in tyranny to the RNGsus of Passives. Now you only need to bend one knee slightly to the Shard Gods!

Summary of the Shards system:

• Goodbye Passives and Skill Spheres; hello Shards!

• Shards are gemlike artifacts that slot into your Defenses, Armor and Weapons

• Shards give you extra buffs, bonuses and sometimes even new functionality

• Shards are found as loot drops separate from your other gear

• Shards are upgradeable

• Most Shards can be moved between gear. No more leaving your Passives behind when you find an iPWR upgrade!

• Defenses can hold up to 3 Shards and can only equip Defense Shards

• Armor and Weapons can hold up to 2 Shards and can only equip Hero Shards

• When you login, you’ll be given Shards to help you on your journey into Chaos, and depending on how many Skill Spheres you’ve purchased, you’ll be given a ton of gold (which you might think you have enough now, but you’ll need all the gold you can get for upgrading Shards)

Ascension: Go Beyond Level 50

While our scouts risked life and limb in the Chaos, our magical scholars made a discovery of their own -- you can now go beyond Level 50! They’re calling it the Ascension system, and they’re quite proud of the name. (They’re as smug as they are clever, those scholars.)

Oh, and what’s the new limit, you ask?

You’ll be delighted to know our scholars believe this path to be limitless! Trust us, our scholars have been testing it. They’re as thorough as they are smug.

When a hero hits Level 50, any XP gained from that point forward goes towards your Ascension Level. Some of you might be wondering whether a deck of four Level 50 Heroes gives you four times the Ascension XP. Some of you might be on the right track! Having multiple level 50 Heroes and braving the toughest challenges rewards you with the greatest bounty.

Earning an Ascension Level gives you points to invest in Ascension Powers. Some Ascension Powers are universal while others are unique to specific heroes. To be the best, you’ll need to rise off your laurels, test yourself, bring your A-game and choose your Powers wisely.

Summary of Ascension:

• Go beyond Level 50 with the Ascension system!

• When a hero hits Level 50, all XP gained after that point goes towards your Ascension Level

• Earning Ascension Levels gives you points to invest into Ascension Powers

• Some Ascension Powers are universal for all heroes; some are unique to each hero

• Harder challenges will grant more Ascension XP

• Four Level 50 heroes in your Hero Deck = 4x the Ascension XP

All Heroes Become Master Builders AND Master Fighters

The Blacksmith and the Relic Hunter have something up their sleeves for you, too. You’ve seen them cozied up in the Marketplace, haven’t you? They’ve been working on updates to Relics, Armor and Weapons that will transform your heroes into simultaneous master defense strategists and combat experts!

All Relics are now Defense Relics

The Relic Hunter fashioned a method for attaching a Relic onto each of your Defenses. Rather than specializing all your gear towards a single Defense, you can now augment each of your Defenses individually! Want a Defense Health Blockade and a Defense Speed Ballista? Done.  Want Defense Range Cannonballs with Defense Power Training Dummies? Easy. You can do all of that with a single hero! Mix and match Relics, Defense Shards and Ascension Powers to make a build that is specifically you!

And yes, you read that above correctly:  The Relic Hunter rediscovered Defense Speed and Defense Range! Be sure to stop by the Marketplace to thank him.

Armor and Weapons Reforged

In conjunction with the Relic Hunter, the Blacksmith reforged Armor and Weapons into Hero Gear!   Similar to Relics, Hero Gear will now allow you to empower and modify your raw combat potential and mystical abilities. Combine gear with Shards and Ascension Powers to make your mark in the annals of Etheria.

Summary of Loot Changes:

• Now you can build powerful defenses AND be a powerful fighter at the same time

• All Relics are becoming Defense Relics

• Defense Speed and Defense Range are returning as stats!

• You can equip a Relic per defense, so you can customize the stats of each defense individually

• Armor and Weapons will now roll with only Hero stats, which means you don’t have to choose between hero stats or defense stats!

These loot changes combined with Shards and Ascension Powers provide new potential for hero builds, and we can’t wait to see what new builds you’ll create.

Phew! That was a lot, and we haven’t described even half the changes coming in the update! In our report next week, we'll shine a light on the forces of Chaos that stand between you and your new power.

Frequently Anticipated Questions

You haven’t asked them yet, but we know you’re going to.

Q:  Wait, there's even more coming in this update?

Yep! This is hands down our most ambitious update. We're putting in long hours to make this the best update yet, and we hope you’ll enjoy our changes as much as we do.

Q:  Does Trendy need feedback on these changes? How can I help with that?

Yes, we do! The most useful feedback would be your hands-on impressions, and if you want to do that, you can join our Remote Playtesting Group. Email dani.moore[at]trendyent.com if you’re interested! Other than that, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Q:  What’s happening to the Passive and Skill Sphere systems?

Most Passives and Skill Spheres are being converted into Shards and some are becoming Ascension Powers. When you login, you’ll be given a number of Shards to aid you on your journey into Chaos, and depending on how many Skill Spheres you’ve purchased, you’ll be given a ton of gold (which you’ll need for upgrading Shards). Those who have purchased more Skill Spheres than others will be given a big leg up here as gold will be key to upgrading Shards and getting further into Chaos faster than other players. And those who farmed iPWR 750 loot will be able to start deeper into Chaos than others.

Q:  What happens to my current Relics, Weapons and Armor?

The most important thing is that your iPWR will remain the same! Your Medallions and Totems will still be Defense focused. Any Defense stats on weapons and armor will be rerolled into Hero stats. Rings will become a Defense Relic and will contain Defense stats. And again, if you have iPWR 750 loot, you’re ahead of the curve.

Q:  Does that mean that investing my time into Skill Spheres and farming gear was worthwhile?

Yes! The more Skill Spheres you purchased, the more gold you’ll receive when this update comes out. Gold is essential to upgrading Shards and gear. And your iPWR will be untouched in the update, so those with higher iPWR gear will be able to start further into Chaos than other players when used in conjunction with the new Shard system! It’s always a little tricky when an in-development game makes big changes, but top-tier players now should remain our top-tier players when the update comes out.

Q:  Will one Defense Relic give me the same amount of stats for a Defense as before?

Maybe not perfectly 1:1, but the goal is that one Defense Relic along with your Shards and your Ascension Powers should give you all the power you need for an individual defense. Our overall goal is that you can have the power fantasy of being an awesome builder and an awesome fighter at once.

Q:  Will I want to build multiples of the same hero now?

We imagine that players will create different builds of a given hero using Shards + Gear Stats + Ascension Powers similar to other loot-driven RPGs.

Q:  I have more questions! Where can I ask them?

You can ask them in the comments below, and we’ll do our best to answer them. You can also join us on our Devstream this Friday at 3PM EST, and we’ll answer as many questions as we can!

Our next patch, Loot & Survive, is coming soon™. It contains pretty much everything you could want while defending Etheria -- a new leveling/progression curve, level cap increase to 50, rewards & Skill Sphere choices as you level up, a completely new loot/stat system, Onslaught Mode, Nightmare mode, an economy balance to make gold more meaningful, and oh so much more.

It will also include a wipe of your heroes and some of your other progress. Since we’re going to miss your heroes too (nooo Portario56235!), we decided to go the extra mile and put together some EXCLUSIVE items for your hard work:

Corrupted Welp

Everyone who has leveled up at least one hero to level 25 will be awarded a unique, custom pet. To obtain this award, you must complete this challenge by 5 PM EDT, July 26th.

4 Survivor Hero Costumes [updated 7/18]

Everyone who has leveled up at least one of each hero class to level 25 will get a unique hero costume for that class. To obtain these awards, you must complete this challenge by 5 PM EDT, July 26th.

We hope these make up for this heroic sacrifice ever-so-slightly more than a colorized icon. We appreciate all of your hard work helping us build Dungeon Defenders II-- together we are going to make the best Action Tower Defense game there is.

Wyvern Token Rewards [updated 7/18]

Finally, for the past week, all of you have been using your Influence points on which kind of wipe you’d like to see -- a Full Wipe or Partial Wipe. As of the writing of this post, Full Wipe is 7000 points ahead -- but, we recognize this could change at any moment.

We’ve received a ton of feedback from the Partial Wipe camp, asking us to create a reward for the hard-earned Wyvern Tokens they’ve obtained. Well look no further! IF the Full Wipe wins, we will be awarding the following amount of gems based on the amount of Wyvern Tokens you’ve earned by 5 PM EDT, July 26th:

Come back Monday for an Influence Vote on the exact details of the wipe

P.S. It’d look something like this if we transferred your hero data over. Also, we’re fully aware of going a bit overboard on the rewards for this wipe. But what can you say, we all got excited about these costumes (thanks Dan!).

Defenders, our first Beastmaster Contest has come to a close, but a new contest begins now. Our next Pet: Purrlin. Go find those magical little gatos, Defenders! You have until May 13th at 11:59 PM EDT to submit your Purrlins in this thread.

There was a lot of awesome participation for the Growld contest. Thank you to everyone that participated. We understand that getting Growld in the timeframe was a little difficult, and we are adjusting the rules accordingly. Starting with this contest, we will pick the top 3 pets as winners, and their owners will all receive the “Beastmaster” title.

Without further ado, the winners of the Growld Beastmaster contest are:

• Pesage
  

• Betto9000

• Quadfire

Thank you to our winners for being such good sports and a huge thank you to Mapatti for making handy-dandy charts! We love data! Winners, keep an eye on your PMs early next week for your title code. 

For full contest rules, see the previous post.

Happy Holidays from everyone here at Trendy Entertainment!  Thanks for a great 2016 and we can’t wait to share what’s coming up in 2017.  Here’s some tidbits about some of the things we’re working on in the game.

Daniel Haddad, Design Director (Blacksmith)

There are no holidays in the camp of Blacksmith. We’re working on three huge changes coming to Dungeon Defenders II very soon. Today I am going to talk about 1.5 of those changes.

While we were working on the Terraria crossover, our back burners were burning away thinking about what we can do to DD2 to make it a more entertaining experience and help empower the end game. While I was playtesting the bloodmoon incursion, one of the answers was staring right at me the entire time. Do you guys see what is wrong with this picture?

Even though we give you the option to carry four heroes in your hero deck, in order to achieve the full fantasy of a hero, you need three of that hero. In the image above, I had:

1. Defense Health Dryad dedicated to building tanky trees

2. Defense Power Dryad dedicated to building damage dealing defenses

3. Hero Damage/Ability Power Dryad dedicated to wrecking face during the combat phase

We are all used to this by now and it’s funny that this has been staring all of us in the face for years now, and we never realized how obtuse it feels. In order for a player to achieve the fantasy a hero promises, that player needs to level 3 of the same hero and farm for at least 18 pieces of gear.

While thinking about this seemingly obtuse problem in DD2, I started thinking about how players interface with loot and realized that loot itself is also currently obtuse. Imagine you are a hero. Imagine you are wearing a full legendary ipwr 800 set of armor. You’d feel powerful right? Protected? Safe? That is what armor is for right? Not in current DD2, if that armor had defense stats on it, well, you will get 1-shot in nightmare… What about if you have an iPwr 800 legendary weapon! Surely you can deal great damage to your adversaries right? Well, not entirely … you more like tickle them to death if that weapon had the wrong stats… Similar to how you interface with your hero deck, there is a lot that does not make sense about DD2’s loot.

To fix these problems I proposed one simple rule. “Whoever equips an item, is affected by that item”. What does that mean? Well, if a hero is equipping a piece of gear, only that hero is affected by that gear. This allows us to make armor and weapons make sense once more. You will no longer find a weapon with Defense Stats nor will you find Armor with Defense Stats.

“What the ploop Blacksmith! What are you doing!? You know this is a Tower Defense game right! Why are you taking tower stats away this is garbage!”

Aha! But wait! There is more! Heroes can no longer equip relics and the game is going to have a total of 5 relic types:

• Medallions

  • Primary Stat: Defense Power

• Totems

  • Primary Stat: Defense Health

• Rings

  • Primary Stat: Defense Range

• X (not sure what this will look like yet)

  • Primary Stat: Defense Crit Damage

• Y (not sure what this will look like yet)

  • Primary Stat: Defense Attack Rate 

Each one of your towers will now have an equipment slot in your equipment belt that can equip a single relic. So for example, on the Squire you will see:

• Weapon Slot

• Shield Slot

• Helm Slot

• Chest Slot

• Gloves Slot

• Boots Slot

• Cannonball Relic Slot

• Blockade Relic Slot

• Ballista Relic Slot

• Dummy Relic Slot

Each tower is now only affected by the relic they equip. What does all this mean? Well this change allows us to combine those 3 heroes you did before into a single hero. Your hero deck of 4 heroes can now literally be 4 different heroes (or 4 squires if you really want to, you can do what you want, you’re all grown…). Each hero can now fulfill the fantasy role in its entirety.

But Blacksmith, what about hero diversity? At least before you had 3 different Squires… It now sounds like all Squires are going to be the same!

Nope! They won’t be, and here is why. If you think about it really, the 3 different Squires you had before were not at all very exciting differences. The next two changes (that I cannot yet talk about) are targeted at adding customization and diversity to each hero type so that you can have different sorts of Squires, Apprentices, EVes (EVii?) and so on.

One of the two things (that I cannot yet talk about, but I am going to anyway) revolves around how you interface with Passives. Right now passives are a good customization tool but are also a massive pain to interface with. You are dependent on RNG to get you the 3 passives you want in the right combination. We are changing that. We are thinking that passives will no longer spawn on gear. Instead, gear spawns with passive slots and passives drop independently on different maps. We are also thinking that passives will no longer have random values but instead will start at a fixed value and can be upgraded through item enhancement. Instead of finding a passive that says “Cannonball Tower does +15% more damage” you will now find an object, let’s call this object a shard, that says “This shard improves the damage of the tower it is socketed into by 5%, can be upgraded 10 times”. By divorcing loot and passives (it was a doomed relationship from the start), you can now invest in the passives you want to and when you get a higher iPwr piece of gear, simply unsocket that passive and move it to the new piece of gear.

All these changes are highly experimental, a lot may change about them, and are the reason why I will be working through the break to deliver these changes to all of you as quickly as possible. We will talk about all these changes in the future, but I wanted to reveal some of them to you know so we can start gathering your feedback. If you have something to say please comment and include “Blacksmith” in your reply. If you have concerns or even if you like what you hear and want to send a few encouraging words please reply in the comments below!

(Also examine the inventory screenshot below closely, you may see the new equipment slots for each hero)

Joshua Javaheri, Tech Art Director (Javahawk)

First and foremost, Happy Holidays! It’s been a long year and a long journey thus far for us and for you, and we're really glad to be here with you throughout. The last few patches have been relatively quiet as we continue to work on huge system overhauls that will dramatically change the way we play and interface with DD2.

A few of us are wrapping up our year here with some much anticipated quality of life improvements to the inventory UI. Gone will be the days of the hero's forge soon, as we're shoving a ton of important hero and inventory specific information onto this revamped inventory system. The right side of this new UI will be the inventory management screen while the left side is relegated to dealing with your hero deck, equipment, and various stats.

One of the questions we've been getting lately is "will these inventory changes affect the structure of bags, and if so, how will this affect my previous purchases?" Simply, yes, we are getting rid of the concept of standard and premium bags in favor of a simpler system. All bags will have the previous premium functionality and will consist of 64 inventory slots apiece.

All players who return will get converted to the new system with the same-or-higher number of inventory slots as they previously had (rounded up to the nearest 64 slot bag). So that means a player who currently has a total of 144 slots (9 bags of 16 slots) will get rounded up to 192 slots (3 bags of 64 slots). THIS MEANS THAT IN EVERY CASE, PLAYERS WILL RECEIVE THE SAME OR GREATER NUMBER OF TOTAL INVENTORY SLOTS.

Additionally, all bags will have extensive sorting functionality. More specifically, players will now be able to sort by Weapons, Armor, Relics, Pets/Pet Items, Consumables, and Lockboxes, and our smart after sorting algorithms will also intelligently sort between different types of items. For example, if a player currently has a huntress equipped, when they sort by weapons, the top hits will all be bows, followed by other weapons with similar ranged stats. We also have a second layer of sorting, with tags such as iPWR, rarity, recent, etc, for even more sorting control.

We are also giving players the tools they need for smarter auto-loot collection. Players will be able to specify, on a per bag level, which loot goes where! It will now be possible for a player to throw all legendary huntress bows into one bag, and all garbage low tiered items into a garbage bag automatically. This should help some of the tedious item management pain points we've noticed players experiencing.

Here are some other cool inventory notes players can expect when we release inventory 2.0:

• Inventory Item locking

• Sell all in bag feature (Locked items ignored)

• Unified design across all platforms

• Full gamepad support

As a parting shot, we are also working on a solution to upgrade gear from the inventory, similar to DD1! :)

What're these!?:

Colin Fisher, Assistant Producer (Elandrian)

I can’t wait for this next year, and I can’t wait to share all the hype that I have been containing since I started working on DD2. We’re going to be on our holiday break for a while, but we’ll be back in January and grinding hard at some big boy system updates.

I might stream a day or two over our break, and if you’re interested in streaming over the holidays, let me know!  I’ll still be around the interwebs interacting with the community when I’m not sipping martinis (shaken not stirred) on a beach and hopefully hosting some fun people on our Twitch channel!  

Jesus Diaz, World Builder (N3oDoc)

Happy Holidays Defenders!

For those who didn't read the last Devlog, we are working on a barbarian themed level, and this week we've been focusing on some viking huts meshes and textures.

We already made some good progress and can't wait to start the world building phase of this level! Meanwhile, here are some of the new assets.

Daniel Diaz, World Builder (DanielKami).

Hey Happy Holidays everyone! As Jesus said, we're working on a barbarian themed level, mostly doing art test stuff. We had some master classes and received some great advice from Jordan this week to help us improve our hand painting skills.

Here's an example:

From: Colin “Elandrian” Fisher, Creative Director

What’s up, Defenders!  Welcome to our first post as Chromatic Games!  If you’re new to the community, an extra helping of “welcome” is in store for you.  If you’re a veteran Defender, then welcome back. Let’s get right to it!

It’s been a wild ride these past couple months, but the cat’s out of the bag now!  There’s been a lot of news about our rebranding, new Kickstarter campaign, and what all of it means for you as a player.  I want to just take a brief moment to provide a little extra context about what’s going on. We’re #indieAF now, so it’s time to get the info straight from the horse’s mouth!  (Or maybe it’s beans time? Company beans? Who knows. Let’s do this.)

So What Happened To Trendy Entertainment?
For the more official take, you can check out the press release here.

For the realest take, keep reading!

In December of this past year, Augi Lye, one of the original founders of Trendy, came back as CEO to help return Trendy to its indie roots.  

The development team and I worked with him to figure out how we can have a good plan to move forward and start creating Dungeon Defenders games in the way they were meant to be made: for our players.  One of the things we wanted to make clear was that Trendy was no longer really Trendy.  There’s brand-new leadership, a new creative direction, and new energy at the studio that was just waiting to be released.  So we decided that we’re not really Trendy anymore.

Chromatic Games is our final form.  We’re over power level 9000 now, and we’re ready to rock.

We’re not answering to external people anymore.  We’re in control of our own destiny. We were able to keep the majority of the development team around, but we had some people move on to newer pastures. We’re so grateful for their years of service.  We love and respect all of our previous Trendy family, but now the Chromatic team is focused on the future — and that future is to keep improving DD2 and crafting Dungeon Defenders: Awakened.

What Does This Mean For Dungeon Defenders II?
Dungeon Defenders II will keep going!  Development is going to slow down, but we still plan on maintaining limited updates and content.  What do I mean by limited updates? We’re going to be focused on smaller quality of life updates, bug fixes, improvements and some occasional new cosmetics.  When I say smaller QoL, I mean in the development time aspect — we still plan on our quality of life features to be super impactful for players.  

We’re going to be releasing an update soon on all platforms that will have a vendor where you can get the Shards you’ve been looking for or looking to gild — a highly requested player feature!

There’s some extra morsels of dopeness in that update as well.  Most of the changes are gameplay related. We’re trying to make the fixes and improvements that everyone has been asking for.

Supporting Dungeon Defenders II will still continue to support the team at Chromatic and support our ability to continue to patch and grow DD2.  Our team is dedicated to figuring out how we can keep evolving the game in the right direction.

We’re going to keep making Dungeon Defenders II better and better, just as we’ve been committed to doing in the past.

So Why Dungeon Defenders: Awakened?
I’m just going to begin by addressing the elephant in the room:

“Elan, Dungeon Defenders: Eternity already happened.  Isn’t this just the same thing?!?”

The short answer is no. The long answer is HELL no.  DD:E was a different product entirely. We have no plans to repeat history when it comes to that.

We came up with Dungeon Defenders: Awakened as our first smaller-scope project as a new team. If we want to remain employee-owned/controlled (which is the dream!), we needed to prove that we’re the capable stewards and re-earn that trust before diving right into Dungeon Defenders III (which we have SO many slick plans for).

Dungeon Defenders: Awakened started as a plan to do a modern remake of the original Dungeon Defenders for the Nintendo Switch, but then it evolved from there.  We didn’t want the game to feel like some sort of weird attempt at Dungeon Defenders: Eternity again. We wanted to make a new game, a new experience, a new story.

As we began looking into what we could build with Unreal Engine 4, we found that we’ll need to rebuild a lot of the systems and code that supported the Dungeon Defenders games.  Fortunately, our engineers are rockstars. We’re taking a lot of the hard lessons we learned about building games over the years from DD1 and DD2 and now have the freedom to make these systems in newer, more optimized and scalable ways for DD:A.

We don’t just want the game to look better in UE4 — we want it to run and feel better.

We want controlling your character to feel “crispy.”  For some context on what that means, you should check out Ben Brode’s PAX Keynote from last year.  We love to draw inspiration from other games and developers, and that is one of my personal favorite talks that describes some of these key aspects of making games have that polished and responsive feel.

Then when it comes to content, we’re exploring ways of using and importing some of our existing content in new ways that we can use as a springboard to accelerate development.  

This is one of the things we show off in the Kickstarter.  Deeper Well is definitely still the same map effectively, but it has a completely new look and will play a little differently.  It will still be a familiar and recognizable location, but there are new things going on in these familiar spots and new gameplay that comes with it.

This is what will allow us to make our aggressive October timeline.  By using the content and assets that we’ve been developing over the years, the content team can go CRAZY and make the game look and run amazingly well while our design team focuses on bringing the gameplay into 2019.

Our goal is to bring Dungeon Defenders: Awakened to as many platforms and players as possible.  We want to make a game that everyone can enjoy, and enjoy together. It just takes additional support to get there, and that’s why we have our Kickstarter campaign.

Why Go To Kickstarter?
We JUST became fully independent again.  We want to build the game in a way that we can fully be in control of.  Obviously going to a publisher is an option that we can explore to get additional funding, but there’s always a bit of “loss” associated with that.  We’re really trying to move forward and make new games. We don’t want to have a publisher — we want to make Dungeon Defenders games that are fun, weird, engaging, meme-tacular, challenging, charming and magical.

By going to Kickstarter, we can maintain FULL control over development and the future of the Dungeon Defenders franchise.  Your support here is VITAL.

The “dream” is to add as much content to this game as possible and to make a game that you can enjoy as a solo player or as a co-op player, strategizing against new challenges, maps, defenses, and gameplay.  We love it when people make interesting builds that even baffle our internal designers. We love when people find cool ways to make defenses and heroes more powerful than we ever could have imagined. We want to give you more of that.

So we need your help.

In Conclusion
We’re here to make a game that communicates our passion for Dungeon Defenders. We want to fulfill the expectations of our followers both new and old.  At this moment, we’ve had about a month of focused pre-production development time so far, and look how much progress we’ve has been made already!

We can’t wait to give people more news and updates about Dungeon Defenders: Awakened as we make more progress. We’re focusing on having a player-first mentality be our driving force at Chromatic.  

We’re here for you, if you’ll be here for us.

Support our Kickstarter, spread the word, help us make the dopest Dungeon Defenders game of all time.

As always, feel free to hit me up on Twitter:  @LordElandrian

Welcome to our community.  Stay a while.

Greetings, Defenders!

A few weeks ago, a mysterious portal opened in Etheria. Today, we’re excited to reveal the portal’s secret: It’s a Terraria and Dungeon Defenders II crossover! This isn’t a one-way crossover, either. We’re adding Terraria content into our game, and Re-Logic is adding Dungeon Defenders content into Terraria!

The mystifying portal of mystery spurred a number of wild guesses. Some of your conclusions were accurate (eerily so); some of them not so much. Our favorite was from a member of the Terraria community who thought Re-Logic was adding a flaming baked potato boss. The image of a villainous flaming potato won’t leave our head. Re-Logic, you have to add it to Terraria. YOU HAVE TO!

So what’s coming to Dungeon Defenders II and when? We’re not adding a flaming potato boss (yet), but we do have something tasty cooked up for you:

The Terraria Update

The Terraria Update is scheduled to launch on November 15th. When it arrives, it’ll include:

• The Dryad, a new Hero Balancing Corruption and Purity

• A Decidedly Deciduous Map

• An Ever-Watching Boss

• A Bloodshot Enemy

• Weapons For Every Hero!

  • A Purrfect Sword

  • A Bow of Seismic Destruction

  • A Great White Machine Gun

  • The Eat Your Green Beams Sword

  • A Staff That Came From the Moon!

  • This Book Really Cuts Us Up

  • Santa’s Favorite Staff

  • The Party Starter

  • We Have a Bone to Pick With You Gloves

  • This Knife Really Gets Around

• A Howling Incursion

• An Eclectic Collector

  • A morph dwarf by the wharf.

• All of Your Hopes and Dreams

  • As long as all of your hopes and dreams are about Terraria coming to Dungeon Defenders II

    • And as long as it’s only the select things we’re bringing from Terraria into Dungeon Defenders II

      • And as long as your name is Ricky or Taneka. Only the people named Ricky or Taneka who had the specific desires of certain Terraria elements coming into Dungeon Defenders II will have their hopes and dreams fulfilled with this update.

Reveals & Streams

Try Out the Dryad For Free

Speaking of the Dryad, we’re excited about an experiment we’re doing in this update. When the update comes out, you can try out the Dryad for free by visiting the portal in the Heroes Marketplace! We’ve setup a custom version of the Dryad to use in the new Terraria map, so you can test out all of her defenses and abilities before plopping down your hard-earned medals or your gems. It’s something you've been asking for with our new hero releases, and we hope you enjoy the experiment. We’re going to pay attention to the data to see how successful this is.

The Second Phase to Release

The Terraria Update marks Phase 2 of our journey to release Dungeon Defenders II out of Early Access. The goal behind The Terraria Update is to get lots of exposure for our game. More people playing = the more we can develop. We’re gathering lots of great data on our early game changes from Phase 1, and with this update, we’ll have more data to look at from other kinds of new players. And, of course, it’s just really awesome for DD2 to be in one of our favorite games, and Re-Logic is just as excited to see Terraria content in a game they love. (In fact, they’re the ones who reached out to us first! They have hundreds of hours in DD2! *fanboys*)

Love,
The Trendy Team

DEFENDERS,

The long awaited Episode 2 Part 1 update has finally arrived! This update features a ton of new features and content such as The Summoner, Runes, Trading, New Defense Changes, 2 New Maps and more! Get ready as this is gonna be a long post! This update is currently out on PC Steam, Xbox and PlayStation! Unfortunately Switch will lag behind quite a bit until a later date.

The Outcast Summoner

The Outcast Summoner, One of the most iconic heroes joins the battle for etheria! You’ll be able to create and try out the new hero along with all their abilities and minions for free.

General Features

Before we cover Hero Abilities, let's talk about some of the general features that the hero has first. The hero doesn’t have weapon slots and as such doesn’t have an actual attack. Instead the hero will be allowed to equip 2 pets at once. Additionally the Summoner will be able to equip Tomes and will be able to complete a weapon set using a single tome.

Regarding Minions we also have opted to not have Minion Units but instead use DU for the defenses. This solves 2 issues, the first being that players felt that they were missing out if they didn’t take advantage of having double the “DU” and additionally it would require we balance every map both past and present around having this feature. As such we’ve made sure that the DU of the minions is very light so that you can have more of them and fit them better into existing builds.

Finally the Summoner has the ability to hover by pressing and holding the jump key at any point while the hero is falling. They will still be able to take advantage of the double jump as any hero can.

Abilities

Primary - Minion Select

• Since the hero doesn’t attack, his primary will be used to select his minions. You are able to do single selection by pressing once or you can do a multi select by holding the input and dragging around the ground reticle to select multiple minions. Additionally if you click and hold when telling them to move you can tell them to evenly space out on a line between 2 points.

Secondary - Overlord Mode

• A big feature of the Summoner was his ability to go into overlord mode and have a more top down RTS style camera. This ability will allow the Outcast Summoner to pan around the map and place minions remotely as well as move them as necessary.

Active Ability - Flash Heal

• Flash heal offers the ability to heal nearby heroes, Minions and defenses by a percentage of their max health, scaling off the hero's Ability stat.

Buff Ability - Pet Boost

• While active the hero's pets will be buffed increasing attack damage and attack speed, scaling off the hero's Ability stat. This was a redux addition that we felt added a lot of potential to the hero being used as a DPS and playing off the ability for the hero to equip 2 pets.

Minions

Minion 1 - Archer (2 DU): Summons a Crystalline Dark Elf Archer. Shoots non-piercing arrows at enemies. 

Minion 2 - Spider (3 DU): Summons a Crystalline Spider to the battlefield. Flings webs at nearby enemies, slowing them down and doubling all damage they receive.

Minion 3 - Siren (4 DU): Summons a Crystalline Siren to the battlefield. She casts protective shields around defenses reducing incoming damage and also attacks offensively with her ranged attack.

Minion 4 - Dark Elf Mage (4 DU): Summons a Crystalline Dark Elf Mage to the battlefield. Casts fireballs and periodically heals themselves and other nearby minions, as well as heroes.  

Minion 5 - Ogre (5 DU): Summons a Crystalline Ogre to the battlefield. Crushes enemies within melee range and occasionally fires poison snot balls from a distance.

Runes

Runes are a new feature that allow players to augment their defenses in new ways! These can range from simple additions to completely different abilities. Runes can drop from normal enemies at all levels of play as well as from victory chests. Each act has its own pool of which runes drop from enemies, and each map has a smaller subset of that act pool that drop in the form of a guaranteed drop from the victory chest. You can view where a rune drops on the rune UI itself, displayed as “Favored Map”

Since the Episode 2 Part 1 post we have since changed our minds about having generic runes in the game. This is mainly because we want players to feel like they can use the special runes designed for each tower without feeling punished for not using a generic rune that just gives them more power. We just think this provides a more fun opportunity to players and lets us continue to create more unique runes rather than balance the battle between unique and generic runes.

Currently there are about 53 runes in the game to playtest, some heroes and defenses are missing runes and we will be working on getting those in over time in smaller updates.

Trading

The long awaited feature is here. As described in the Episode preview post, players are able to send trade requests with one another using the party bar in the top right of the pause menu. Once a player accepts a trade request, the two players may offer up items and gold between each other and then confirm the trade once they feel like they are happy with the trade.

Act 5 - 2 New Maps

With the first part of Episode 2 comes 2 new maps to kick off Act 5. After defeating the Lycan King, the heroes traverse a great desert uncovering forgotten locations along the way. The first 2 maps are available and can be played. However they drop the same quality of items that would be seen on the keep, as the increased item quality of act 5 will come with Act 5 boss map. 

The Bazaar (100 DU)

You’ll have to fight your way through the Bazaar in order to progress deeper into the secrets this desert holds! As a reward for completing this map on Survival, you’ll be able to obtain a pet version of Hammel!

The Lost Metropolis (130 DU)

Defend your core from threats old and new in the shadow of structures from a forgotten civilization. This map doesn’t yet have a pet reward but will be added in the near future so stay tuned!

Wave Progression Updates

We’ve seen a lot of feedback about how waves feel like they sorta just trickle out and don’t feel very lively. As such we’ve done some investigating and made changes to the way waves come out of their spawners. Players should see more enemies coming out of the spawners at a faster pace. Additionally because of this we’ve increased the total mob counts for the maps to ensure a balance with wave times.

Defense Changes

Squire - Sniper Tower

The Sniper tower offers the squire a new single target defense that will be very strong at defeating tanky enemies. It will use a special enemy targeting priority. This tower will replace the Bouncer Blockade as we felt the blockade was often overshadowed by the other blockades in the game.

Huntress - Poison Dart Tower

The Poison Dart Tower is the first addition of a defense to the Huntress’s kit. The PDT will shoot 3 individual projectiles. These projectiles are fanned out so that they spread out and hit multiple enemies down the path. It will use a fodder targeting priority. This tower will replace the Darkness Trap, as it was the most unused defense in the game, the alternative was the Thunder Spike Trap which we felt could have more use cases.

EV - Heat Cannon

The Heat Cannon provides a unique defense to the game. It’s a short ranged flamethrower defense that hits all enemies within its range arc. While this defense is limited in range it will more than make up in defense power. This defense will have a fodder targeting priority. It will replace the new empty slot where Reflect Field was.

EV - Plasma Defense System

The Plasma Defense System or PDS is an omni-directional sentry that can target and attack up to 3 separate targets at once. The defense does have one major flaw in the form of a deadzone. The dead zone prevents the tower from attacking enemies that are too close to the tower. This defense will have a modified version of the special enemy targeting but instead prioritizes Djinns, Copters, and Wyverns before targeting other special enemies. This defense will replace the Shock beam, as we felt that the crowd control it provided was just outclassed by other crowd control oriented defenses regardless of balance.

Auto Loot 2.0

Make sure to take a look at your Auto Loot filters as they will have been reset. You’ll want to take some time to play around with the new system and make auto loot profiles for the different kinds of items you want to be picked up. As long as an item matches 1 of the filters in the list it will be picked up. Do note you can only have 8 filters currently.

Auto Loot Filters also determine what Items get shown on your tactical map. We’ve even added a special icon for Runes, and a purple glow for any Fusion items. So make sure to be on the lookout for those.

Pet Balance

• Pets
  • Monkey King
    • Damage stat scalar increased from 100 to 150.
    • Damage base increased from 25 to 50.
  • Mista Mine
    • Slow reduced from 50% to 40%

Hero Balance

• General
  • Hero Abilities
    • Due to implementations for Runes and how those interact with abilities most abilities will have updated scaling which should be equivalent or a slight buff in power.
  • Stat Scalar Changes
    • Squire, Huntress, Monk, EV and Rogue all have a increased tower attack Rate stat scalar match Apprentice and Warden, The following towers should be buffed because of this change, some more than others:
      • Harpoon, Bowling Ball and Slice N’ Dice, Explosive Trap, Thunder Spike Trap, Electric Aura, Healing Aura, Proton Beam, Overclock beam.
• Squire
  • Slice N’ Dice
    • Can now attack Sirens.
• Apprentice
  • Flameburst
    • Starting damage increased from 192 to 250.
    • DU Reduced from 5 to 4.
• Warden
  • Sludge Launcher
    • Base Damage reduced from 450 to 425
    • Tower Damage Stat Scalar reduced from 1.6 to 1.45
    • No longer slows by default, which can be reintroduced as a rune.

Map Balance

• All Maps
  • All maps now have the same enemy caps as The Keep of 55, which is determined mainly by performance. This should decrease wave times on earlier maps that were being limited
• The Keep
  • Added tower prevention volumes to the top of the walls as these were often used as safe spots and provided line of sight that was unbalanced for the intended map design
• Alchemical Labs
  • Reduced amount of fodder enemies and spiders
• Ramparts
  • Reduced amount of spiders on Ramparts 

Bug Fixes

• Fixed issue with Halloween Copter Ogres spawning.
• Fixed issue with Upgrade / Repair item effects weren’t stacking duration properly.
• Fixed potential crash with damaging emitters.
• Fixed issue with aiming past dead enemies would cause projectiles to shoot up into the sky.
• Fixed issue with Loot not showing on the tactical map.
• Fixed issue with Decoy not showing nameplates.
• Fixed issue with Rift portals having 0 HP in mixed mode.

Misc.

• Training Dummies have more health.
• Training Dummies now can display DPS values above 2B without going negative.
• Siren drops were dropping at much higher than expected levels.
• Skeletons now take 1 second to respawn instead of 3.
• Tavern difficulty scaling should line up with gameplay maps more closely now.

What’s Next?

Well now that Episode 2 Part 1 is out, the next focus is on getting the remaining Part 2 additions done. Currently looking at releasing that sometime early next year as with all the holidays coming up it will limit work capacity. Besides the remaining Episode 2 work, we may look at doing a smaller Winter Holiday update / event but let you know as that progresses.

Social Defenders

To stay up-to-date on the latest news from Chromatic Games and the Dungeon Defenders franchise, follow us on all our social channels:

• Discord

• Twitter

• Facebook

• Instagram

• TikTok

• YouTube

• Twitch

• Forums

For Etheria!

Chromatic Games

Ascension Part II is here for Steam! Here are the notes:

Features

Two New Maps!

• The Deadly Road:  Enshrouded in tales of ghost sightings and vanishing caravans, the Dead Road has been actively avoided by travelers since its discovery. Many brave souls have tried exploring the ruined catacombs in search of treasure, but none have emerged alive.

• Temple of the Necrotic:  Deep in the woods of Etheria, there exists a temple built in the space between life and death. A powerful artifact has appeared inside of the structure, throwing the forces governing the living and the dead into total chaos.

New Event:  Spooky 2015

• Cut a hole in your chair and grab a bucket because you’re gonna s*** yourself with our first Holiday event. Maldonis the Dark has invaded Etheria, and he brought some ghoulish new friends with him. Be on the lookout for some seriously spooky secrets in each of the new maps!

Steam Trading Cards

• Added 15 Steam Trading Cards. Collect them all for Steam badges, emoticons, profile backgrounds -- the whole shebang. (That word seems a lot dirtier when you see it on paper.)

Spooky Challenges

• Complete the 8 new Challenges for a spooky surprise. You’ll need to act fast as these Challenges are only available for a limited time!

Four New DPS Weapons

• Added four new weapons, each with a unique DPS-focused passive.

Auto-Collect Filters

• Become the Bag Master. You make the rules now.

• Tell your bags to filter in certain types of loot automatically during Auto Collect. For example, tell a bag to filter in all Legendary loot. All Legendary loot that is Auto-Collected from the ground will automatically go into that bag. That’s right, Champ. You’re the boss. The Bag Boss. That’s higher than Bag Master. You were promoted just by reading the patch notes.

• Added 13 Auto-Collect filters to bags. The sky's the limit within these 13 specific filters.

New Tavern Decorations

• The tavern has been spookified. The Grumpy old man isn’t too pleased, but what do you expect.
  
  

Dark Arts Apprentice Costume

• 1600 Gems

• 4 Mythical Accessories

• Unique Heal, Spawn, Death and Mana Bomb Animations

November Monthly Quest Going Live on 11/3/15

• Title: An Etherian Pilgrimage

• Description: This month's mission is stuffed with adventure! Go forth and gobble up tokens and pet food to get this month's pet!

  • Condition 1: Win 30 maps without losing a sub-objective!

  • Condition 2: Find 40 Turkey Legs From Pet Food Boxes

  • Condition 3: Earn 50 Wyvern Tokens!

• Rewards

  • New Monthly Pet: Narwhagon!

    • Type: Dragon

    • Ability: Unified Defense - Create a shield that does damage to nearby and attacking foes.

    • Tier: Legendary

  • Wyvern Tokens: 40

  • Gold: 30,000

New Premium Pet:  Autumeow

• Available on Thursday!

New Main Menu w/ New Music

• Updated the Main Menu to reflect the current festivities.

Updated War Table

• We’ve added some quality of life improvements specifically for events.

• New Quick Jump event icon found in the top right hand corner of the War Table. Click the Quick Jump to the event playlist.

• New Spooky Event difficulties for the new Spooky maps.

Skip Tutorial

• Players now have the choice of skipping the tutorial on the first playthrough.

Extra Notes

• Pet Reagent Boxes now have proper mesh and texture representation in world. Still no loot beams.

• Costume shop mannequins have new costumes displayed.

• Changed costume shop lighting.

• Renamed Lightning Rod to Concentrated Cyclone.

• Renamed the Tower Range stat to Defense Range.

Balance

• Rebalanced the Squire Provoke Duration Skill Sphere to 2.0 / 4.0 seconds

• Thorns Skill Spheres are now unique.

• Mark Targets Skill Spheres now increase mark target maximum by 1 / 2.

• Updated Steiner’s health in the Incursion.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where sometimes the Lane Billboards were showing the incorrect information or were placed onto the wrong lane.

• Fixed an issue where the Immediate Message for server/patch maintenance caused the whole screen to blur.

• Fixed an issue where pressing K wouldn’t change the message at the top of the screen.

• Fixed an issue where the Flamethrower Tower caused less loot to drop from Special Enemies.

• Fixed an issue where the Losing Social Score message would appear when a player attempted to leave after Victory or Defeat on a map.

• Fixed a bug where cutscene sound wouldn’t play after the first play.

• Fixed a render thread crash.

• Fixed a crash related to a missing sound notification.

• Changed the wording on Error 2003.

• Fixed a few typos and reduced the length of Empowering Beam description.

• Fixed an issue where some pet eggs that were hatched weren’t being removed from the Inventory.

• Polished up some map collisions to make sure walking through the lanes is an easy and enjoyable experience.

• Fixed an issue where some Ranged impact sounds were playing inconsistently.

• Fixed an issue where the Mana Node interaction collision didn’t cover the little green spirit dude who floats above it.

• Spelled reservoir correctly in Siphon Site D. Now you defend the RESERVOIR in Siphon Site D. That’s right, THE RESERVOIR. The RESERVOIR needs defending people….

• Fixed a hole in Forest Crossroads.

• Skeleton Goblin now has correct iconography in game.

• Fixed an issue where heroes wouldn’t play their full spawn-in animation after death.

• Resolved an issue with Griblok's "I'm out" animation not playing.

• Resolved a bug where the Liferoot Forest Incursion Special Enemies would not spawn.

• Fixed and updated several Skill Sphere descriptions.

• Fixed an issue where there were duplicated stats in the stat manager.

• Fix issue where some decals were not being applied to meshes.

• Fixed an issue where the glow on the proximity mine was too dark in its deactivated state.

• Fixed an issue where the outline effect when targeting certain objects was displaying incorrectly.

Greetings Defenders,

This Friday, Dungeon Defenders II will be available on Steam Early Access! We’re excited to welcome all of our new players into the game and continue to make the best Action Tower Defense experience possible!

Steam Early Access will be available for $24.99. This will include access to Dungeon Defenders II, $30 of in-game currency and a set of 4 exclusive hero embellishments (currency and embellishments will be given to players as they are created/implemented into the game). We expect Dungeon Defenders II to remain in Early Access for at least a year. All of our Defense Councillors will also receive these new embellishments for free.

We will also have an upgrade pack available. This upgrade will be $49.99 and will include $100 additional currency, 4 exclusive Hero Skins, an exclusive title, the 4 Tower Skins our Defense Councillors are designing, and an exclusive tavern decoration (goodies will be given to players as they are created/implemented into the game). All current Co-Op pack Defense Councillors will also get these new goodies. The rest of you will be able to upgrade to this pack on Steam to get all of those in-game extras and the new ones. For an updated list of what your Defense Council packages include (we’ve added a lot!), click here.

Both of these will be 20% off for the first week Early Access is available on Steam!

We want to thank all of you for your feedback in our last survey and blog post about our Steam release. This feedback really helped us decide the pricing and awards in these new bundles. We’re excited to be able to provide new goodies for all of our new and old players, while keeping the Defense Council exclusives… exclusive. :)

We look forward to seeing you in Etheria on Friday! And remember: Tune into the The Game Awards on Friday at 9 p.m. EST for a world-premiere DD2 announcement!

Edited 12/4/14:  Clarified that some of the goodies will not be made immediately available upon purchase. They will be given to people as they are created/implemented into the game. Sorry for the confusion!

DEFENDERS,

Do you like new maps? Do you like some of your heroes getting some significant updates? If so, then we have the patch for you! In this update, we are bringing Tornado Valley to DD2 along with a bunch of new and updated abilities for the Initiate, Adept, Mystic, Series EV2, and Lavamancer. Let’s get into it. 

New Region - Tornado Valley
Fans of other Dungeons Defenders games will instantly recognize our newest DD2 region: Tornado Valley. This region will have 2 new maps, and a new region specific enemy, a brand new boss fight. Make sure to stay hydrated as you attempt to weather the brutal lands of Tornado Valley!

New Map - Tornado Canyon

Drops

• Ancient Robot Arm 
• Tuskin Rifle
• Ancient Water Boiler (Canisters) 
• Clockwork Sword
• Staff of Sands
• Plain/Shiny/Pristine Talisman

New Map - Tornado Highlands

Drops

• Corrupted Oculus (Staff)
• Tome of Corruption
• Corrupted Axe
• Spear of Corruption
• Corrupted Bow
• Corrupted Dagger  
• Genie Prince
• Corrupted Genie Prince
• 6x Plain/Shiny/Pristine Talisman

Region Specific Mods

• Canyon Bells - Enemies on death have a x% chance to spawn a bell that does y% of your Ability Power as damage to all nearby enemies every second for 3 seconds and stuns them for 2 seconds. This effect can only occur once every 2 seconds.
• Cyclostrophic Wind - Your attacks generate 1 tornado stack. At 5 stacks you launch a tornado forward, dealing x% of your Ability Power as damage to up to 10 enemies and sending them airborne. The effect has a cooldown of 3 seconds.
• Genie King's Curse - While moving below 100 Speed, your Primary attacks deal x% of your Hero Damage stat as Earth Damage.
• Genies Protection - After using an ability, gain x movement speed and reduce the damage you take by y% for 3 seconds.
• Owl God's Wisdom - Your primary attacks deal x% of your Ability Power as extra damage. This extra damage can trigger once every 0.1s per enemy hit.
• Blinding Sand - Your attacks have 15% to spawn a ball of sand on impact deal x% of your Hero Damage as Earth damage and slow movement speed and attack speed to all nearby damage.
• Sand Path - Projectile attacks that hit the ground leave up to three patches of sand that deal x% of your ability power and reduce enemy movement speed by 7%. Each patch lasts z seconds.
• Sand Storm - Generates a sandstorm around you that consistently deals x% of your Hero Damage as earth damage to nearby enemies.

Region Specific Pets

Genie Prince

• Mana Swirl - Restore 500 ability mana. 

Corrupted Genie Prince

• Magical Burst - Fires 5 magical bursts dealing 335% magical hero damage each. 

New Region Specific Enemy - The Windshaper

The Windshapers have spent years training to master control over the air, allowing them to send devastating tornadoes towards players that pierce and knock up players in their path. Be warned though, they are not as frail as they may seem and will not be defeated so quickly.

New Boss - The Genie King 

Deep within Tornado Highlands lies the lamp of a familiar foe...but it has been entirely corrupted by the Old Ones' magic! This iteration of the Genie King can inflict a variety of crippling debuffs with its attacks, so be careful...

Hero Reworks

In an effort to spice things up, as well as help out some of our favorite heroes that needed that extra little boost, we have made some changes to some of their towers and abilities. We've wanted these heroes to be unique in their own right for a while, where they have their own unique kits but are still similar to the Monk and Apprentice. Now, we think we have struck just the right balance. Keep reading to see if your favorite hero was affected.

Note: The Adept and Initiate’s price will increase to 10,000 Defender Medals/1,500 Gems. This increase will take effect after 2 weeks, during this time they will both be on sale for 8,000 Defender Medals/1,000 Gems.

Initiate

Firework Cannon (40 DU) - Replaces Boost Aura. Shoots up to three fireworks at different enemies within range, dealing damage in a large area.

• Concentrated Pyrotechnics (Shard) - Increases the damage of the Firework Cannon by x%, but increases the damage falloff by 50%.

Chi Spirit Tower (50 DU) - Replaces Sky Guard Tower. A spectral copy of the Initiate fires piercing Chi waves that damages and cripples enemies, increasing their damage taken.

• Spirit Charge (Shard) - Increases the damage of the Chi Spirit Tower by x%, and increases the projectile size by y%.

Frost Strikes Aura (20 DU) - Replaces Lightning Strikes Aura. Deals powerful frost damage to a single enemy within its radius.

• Frosty Explosion (Shard) - Enemies killed by the Frost Strikes Aura explode dealing x% of the Frost Aura’s Defense Damage as frost damage.
• Lingering Frostfire (Mod) - Enemies suffer +x% extra Water Damage every second for y seconds when hit by Frost Strikes Aura.

Adept

Tesla Coil (50 DU) - Replaces Arcane Barrier. Generates arcing electricity that chains to multiple targets at once.

• Reckless Shock (Shard) - Enemies hit by the Tesla Coil take x% more damage, but move 50% faster.
• Ramping Voltage (Mod) - The Tesla Coil deals more damage as it strikes enemies, up to a maximum of x% extra damage. This damage increase resets after not attacking for 5 seconds.

Crystal Hammer (50 DU) - Replaces Earthshatter Tower. Slams the ground, sending a line of damaging crystalline spikes forward and hitting all enemies in a line.

• Crystal Fissure (Shard) - Increase the width of Crystal Hammer's attack by 50%, and increase the Defense Power by x%.

Mystic

New Appeasement Tiers
The buffs originally granted by Appeasement were overly complicated and not very well explained. These new buff tiers are simpler while still rewarding the Mystic for remaining at high Appeasement while providing more or less the same power as before.

1% or more Appeasement

• Ability Power x1.2 
• Hero Damage x1.2
• Damage Vulnerability x0.8 
• Tower Damage x1.2

25% or more Appeasement

• Basic attacks have lifesteal 

50% or more Appeasement

• Basic attacks lower the Mystic’s active cooldowns 

100% Appeasement

• AoE damage buff that deals 1000% Ability Power damage every second
• 1.5x Speed 
• Basic attacks make enemies take 10% more damage for 3s

Ability Changes

Lash Out

• Increased damage by 200%

Call to Madness

• Added target limit of 10
• Reduced enrage range by 70%
• Increased cooldown from 20 to 30
• Reduced duration from 8.1 to 4.1
• Reduced Madness Embrace duration increased from 4.6 to 3.2
• Reduced Debilitating Madness damage taken increased from 66 to 20

Dark Torment 

• Increase damage from 40 to 80
• Decreased cooldown from 8 to 4 seconds
• While the dagger is impaled inside an enemy all mystic damage is increased by 50%
• Increased Dark Torment Tower damage multiplier by 600%
• Increased Dark Torment Tower number of beams from 1 to 3
• Removed ‘Sand Vipers Target enemies affected by Dark Torment’ 

Serpent’s Coil - Allowed as many Serpent’s Coils to be placed as DU allows. Added collision so they can be damaged by enemies. Can now be upgraded like other towers.
Added Tower Health to Serpent Coil Talent 

Snaking Sands - Detach damage from the stun so Snaking Sands can still damage enemies affected by Elder Wyverns or Headstrong. Buffed damage by 50%.

Sand Vipers - Increased base number of beams from 1 to 3. Beam ramping damage now properly scales with upgrades.

Viper’s Fangs - Damage dealt by this tower has been moved from the bubble pop and rain effects to the initial hit. The bubble attack also slightly knocks enemies back in addition to its knockup effect.

Obelisk - Removed Upgrade and Appeasement requirements from Obelisk buffs to simplify its usage.

• Removed Flame Thrower
• Removed Confuse buff
• Removed Knock-up buff
• Smite has a 20% chance to polymorph enemies hit into snakes 
• Smite damage increased by 25%
• Snake Polymorph increases damage by 20%

Snake Zealot Chip Mod - Reworked due to being made irrelevant by Serpent’s Coil.

• Serpent Avatar (New) - The Serpent Avatar summoned by the Mystic at max Appeasement deals x% more damage.

New Talent: Poison Damage - Dark Torment and lash out poison damage increased by x%

Series EV2

New Passive - Series EV2 can now double jump and hover in the air afterwards. 

• Note: The Bunny Hop Shard no longer works on Series EV2 due to this adjustment.

Anti Gravity Bots - Now home towards enemies exploding on contact.

Holographic Decoy - Replaces Death from Above. EV2 leaps backwards, leaving a decoy behind that taunts nearby enemies for a few seconds. As it expires, the decoy explodes and damages nearby enemies.

Aerial Mastery Shard - Reworked due to Death from Above being replaced. New Effect: Increases movement speed while flying by x. Dryad may now also equip this Shard.

Lavamancer

Secondary Attack - Dash now pierces through enemies.

Inflame/Harden - Has now been consolidated into a single ability, Inflamed. Inflamed reduces damage taken, taunts nearby enemies, and increases speed and damage for a period of time.

Tectonic Breaker (Shard) - Reworked due to above change. New effect: While inflamed, deal x% armor stat as earth damage and y% hero damage as fire damage every 3rd primary attack.

Charged Restoration (new Shard) - Charged secondary attacks restore x mana. Can only activate once per second.

Balance

• Dryad Starfall now naturally pierces shields 
• Reduced Ring of fire damage on hit from 60% to 30% and added Burring effect that scales off hero damage
• Removed blockade requirements from Health/Power pylon
• Piercing shot consumes all mana and damage also scales off % mana consumed
• Increased piercing shot damage by 238%
• Changed nimbus to a small AOE rather than single target
• The following Shards have had their scaling changed from Defense Power to Defense Damage:
  • Explosive Surprise
  • Lateral Blast
  • Heavy Cannonball
  • Explosive Arrows
  • MegaRock
  • Glacier
  • Splody Harpoon
  • Oily Harpoon
  • Snakes on a Plane
  • Combined Power

Onslaught Mutators

• BloodLust (New) - Enemies on receiving damage now move at +30% speed for 5 seconds.
• Berserked (New) - Enemies now take +50% more Damage and deal +50% more damage.
• Reckless (New) - Enemies now have +50% Movement Speed and +50% Damage taken.
• Trollblood (New) - Enemies now heal for +2% of their max hp every second.
• Speed Demons (New) - Enemies are 50% faster, but slow effects last longer on them.
• Pain Aura (Removed) - Pain aura has been removed due to poor performance.

New Skins
We are adding 4 new skins that fit various desert aesthetics so that our players can defend Etheria in comfort and style while braving the conditions in Tornado Valley. We have also added Jade, Frost, and Galaxy Skins for the Mercenary and Countess that can be obtained in Defender packs.

Marauder Apprentice Skin - A magician of the sands.

Wind Guardian Lavamancer Skin - The Guardian of the Tornado Valley. 

Clockwork Squire Skin - Is he more man or more machine?

Scarab Lord Abyss Lord Skin - Something is a little buggy with this hero.

Bundles

Each of these thematic new skins can be accessed via the Emporium and purchased individually. For those of you looking to save a few gems, each skin can also be found in a bundle to help you balance fashion and efficiency!

• Ancient Sands Bundle (1,400 Gems) - Scarab Lord and Wind Guardian Skins
• Desert Conquerors Bundle (1,600 Gems) - Marauder Apprentice and Clockwork Squire Skins
• Wind Guardian Bundle (2,300 Gems) - Lavamancer Hero and Wind Guardian Skin
• Scarab Lord Bundle (2,300 Gems) - Abyss Lord and Scarab Lord Skin

Misc.

• Player Shops - Player shops are back online! Which is very useful because you will need a TON of gold for...
• The Golden Mask - The Golden Top Hat is now out of stock. But fret not Defenders with a taste for the finer things in life. We now are offering yet another solid gold cranial accessory in the Golden Mask! If you have more gold than you know what to do with, this mask is for you. As a bonus, the Golden Mask hides your tears that you are surely crying after paying that much gold.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed Immolation having an incorrect proc chance.
• Fixed Oil Catapult Defense health talent description.
• Fixed an issue where the respawn popup would show up when swapping characters.
• Fixed an issue where the star progress bar wouldn't show past 840 stars.
• Fixed an issue with the base XP values for onslaught on Wild Westival.
• Fixed an issue where you can’t buy Fight Me Not in the Chaos 3 Shard Shop.
• Fixed an issue where the matchmaking input defaults were being filtered out by the profanity filter.
• Fixed an issue where there wasn't a second billboard for double spawn on the Jacked Sparrow.
• Fixed an issue where the Countess’ abilities weren't counting toward the weekly ability mission.
• Fixed an issue where the High Seas region was showing the wrong crafting material drop and fixed the order for the Chaos 9 amp.
• Fixed an issue where rerolling missions doesn't save the reroll.
• Fixed an issue where the Reflect Beams went to default textures on retry from wave.
• Fixed an issue where the Drakenlord’s Frost Shield would stay up even when ignited.
• Fixed an issue where the Spectral Knights in the Spectral Assault Prime Incursion were not doing their proper damage.
• Fixed an issue where the reforging system could delete items if you replaced the consumed item in the middle of server update.
• Fixed an issue where the Mercenary hero was messed up leading to bad shadows.
• Fixed an issue where the impact effect on the Adept's Arc Lightning wasn't showing its impact VFX.
• Fixed an issue where the Shatterquake mod was causing heavier than intended CPU usage.
• Fixed an issue where some projectiles wouldn't hit the Jester Boxes.
• Fixed an issue where the Runed Slicer sword had the wrong icon.
• Fixed an issue where piercing projectiles wouldn't spawn ground based impact effects.
• Fixed an issue where the Mystic’s shooting VFX wasn't spawning in the correct location.
• Fixed an issue where Nether Archers' bounce can miss its target.
• Fixed an issue where the Jester Boxes that spawn do not trigger the shard Critical Restoration.
• Fixed an issue where mouse inputs can press abilities on the ability bar while building.
• Fixed some controller navigation issues with the Liferoot region on the world map.
• Fixed an issue where a lot of skins weren't on sale from the cosmetics UI.
• Fixed Maw of the Earth Drake not attacking slow-immune enemies.
• Fixed an issue where the Magic Mortar Tower in the create of hero screen was sideways.
• Fixed an issue where the Fiery Fangs mod didn't correctly attune to Fire.
• Fixed some controller navigation issues with the Liferoot region on the world map.
• Fixed an issue where a few skins weren't on sale from the cosmetics UI.
• Fixed Maw of the Earth Drake not attacking slow-immune enemies.
• Fixed an issue where the Magic Mortar Tower in the create of hero screen was sideways.
• Fixed an issue where the Snaking Sands Tower did no damage to dummies.
• Fixed an issue where un slowable enemies where not getting the movespeed debuff from the Phased Mutatro.

What's Next?
We’ll be keeping an eye on this patch as it goes out and making sure we squash any bugs that may appear. We’re currently plugging away at major updates to DDA, but fear not, as we’re also looking into our next major DD2 update and trying to add some big features that might take us some time to get up and running. There’s a whole lot we’ve got planned, so stay tuned!

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