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DDA Public Test Realm Info - Now Live!

[CG] Brittani

Entry posted by [CG] Brittani in News ·

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DEFENDERS,

The Public Test Realm (PTR) is out now and there’s a lot for you to test (click here to find out how to get in). We’re going to be gathering feedback on and updating based on that feedback as we go! You may notice there is more in this update than what we have already announced (and we plan on adding even more as we get closer to launch), so we will frequently be adding to this list in order to get your feedback on additional elements and changes.

DISCLOSURE

This is a PTR build. That means that things are going to be in a rough state, not finished, maybe a bit buggy, etc. It’s by no means a perfect representation of the game, or final in any means. Please take this into consideration when providing feedback. We’ve spent a lot of time working hard on getting this massive update going. We ask that you be respectful when providing feedback and understand that actual people put a lot of time and effort into everything you’re testing.

Feedback

Through the escape menu, there is a link to a survey. You can fill this survey out and edit it over the course of the PTR.

REWARDS!

For your time spent testing the PTR (we ask at least 30 minutes if possible) and filling out our survey, you will earn a brand new reward, Tester’s Eagle Wings:

Wings PTR.png

We are able to track your account, so don’t worry about adding any identifying information, we’ll get the reward automatically unlocked on your account when Episode 1 launches. To ensure it gets unlocked, there is a question on the survey that has your “PlayFab ID” (this is what we use for cloud storage and account saving). Do not edit whatever is in that field, otherwise the rewards will not be able to be applied to your account.

In future PTR tests, we will have additional rewards for your time. We really appreciate your feedback and constructive criticism, and our goal is to give something back. :)

Defense Rate Changes

Before we get into everything else, we want to talk about Defense Rate changes. Through our development with the Switch, and throughout our certification process, our game was not able to perform with the speed at which towers were attacking, effectively making releasing on the Switch impossible (due to how towers calculate enemy positions, priorities, tons of AI tracking, VFX being played, damage calculations, etc.) because of how many resources they took to make those processes work. As a result, we’ve provided a cap for Defense Rate that caps most towers at 0.50 shots a second.

This brings in Defense Rate overflow. Basically what this means is when you pump Defense Rate into a tower, that stat is rolled over into Defense Power instead. This means that while some towers will be attacking slower than before, they will be hitting harder to compensate for the Defense Rate cap (so the stat is not wasted). This includes any Defense Rate increase that you would get from boosting a tower using Overcharge or Speedy Gemstone for example.

We had to act pretty fast on this to ensure we can release it on Nintendo Switch. We discussed having two different versions (a Switch version with the lowered rates), but that just isn’t possible for us to maintain with a team of our size. Balancing it and making it fair would be impossible, and there might be metas where playing certain content on one platform may be easier than others, which is something we want to avoid entirely.

We’re looking to get as much feedback as possible here to make sure this change feels good while allowing us to fulfill our promise of releasing on Nintendo Switch.

Heroes

The Rogue and The Warden are now available for testing!

Maps

The Mill, The Outpost, The Keep, and Foundries and Forges are all available for testing!

Item Effects

Our new system dubbed “Item Effects” have been added to gear (lower level pieces do not contain them) and are available for testing!

New Set Bonuses

New Set Bonuses have been added to gear and are available for testing!

Boss Tests

Test of the Demon, Mech, and Ancient have been added in a new game mode called Tests and are all available for testing!

Bonus Waves

In Nightmare and Massacre Survival, Bonus Waves are now available for testing (unlocked after beating Wave 25 Survival of each difficulty on Alchemical Labs, Throne Room, The Summit, and The Keep)!

The Lycan King

The Act IV boss, The Lycan King, is not available for testing at this time.

Rift Portals

Selecting Rifted and playing the new Act IV maps will have Rift Portals appear and is now available for testing!

Rifted Changes

Rifted enemy schedules have been changed to not include non-Rifted enemies and are available for testing!

Level Cap Increase

The level cap has been increased to 105 and is now available for testing!

New Accessory: Wings

Wings have been added to the game and are now available for testing! (you must complete one of the Boss Test maps)

Offhands

Offhands have been added to drop tables and are now available for testing!

Hero Deck Changes

The Hero Deck size has been increased to six, as well as providing additional bonuses for heroes in the hero deck. This is now available for testing!

Crit and Crit Bonus

Critical chance and critical bonus have been added to swords and polearms and are now available for testing!

Secondary Ability Changes

The Huntress’s secondary is a grenade toss, and the Monk’s secondary now scales off level instead of weapon. Both are now available for testing!

Ammo and Reload

Ammo and reloading have been removed from the game and replaced with an exploding secondary on crossbows (you can rocket jump with it). This is now available for testing!

Projectile Speed

Projectile speed has been adjusted across the game and is now available for testing!

Build, Upgrade, and Repair Speed

These speeds have been adjusted across the game and are now available for testing!

Pet Changes

All pets have been updated, except “Giraffe on a Treadmill” and “Mista Mine” (these will get updated in a later PTR patch).

Known Issues/Work-in-Progress List

Work-In-Progress

  • The Outpost
    • Combat/Build phase music
  • The Mill
    • Combat/Build phase music
    • Needs wisps
  • The Keep
    • Combat/Build phase music
  • Lycan
    • Tacmap image
    • Billboard image
  • Warden
    • Create-A-Hero select sound (currently same as EV)
    • Roots of Purity tooltip does not display a correct range
    • Roots of Resonance tooltip does not display correct range
    • Wisp Den tooltip does not display correct range
    • Shroomy Pit tooltip does not display correct range
  • Rogue
    • Spellbook
    • Create-A-Hero description
    • Create-A-Hero select sound (currently same as The Huntress)
    • Unfinished SFX on some Rogue abilities
  • Cinematics
    • Missing audio in Cinematics
  • UI
    • Stats panel isn't in its final form
    • Spellbook is missing some information
  • Pets
    • Mista Mine is not up to date
    • Giraffe on a treadmill is not up to date

Known Bugs

  • The Outpost
    • Gas/sludge can be inconsistent with dealing damage to the player while moving through it.
  • The Mill
    • Collision issues
    • Boundary issues
  • The Keep
    • Collision issues
    • Boundary issues
  • Endless Spires
    • Enemies getting stuck
  • Lycan
    • Subsequent howls are not faster than the original
  • Rogue
    • Melee attacks are missing when it should be on target and hitting.
    • Cannot sell / upgrade / repair on Keyboard and mouse
  • Weapons
    • Flamethrower doesn't continue firing if double clicked and held
    • Certain weapons appear too dark in game
  • UI
    • Ctrl+Shift does not work for assigning points
    • Stat tooltips on Clients may not always show
    • Defense Ability Bar will sometimes disappear on Clients when swapping heroes quickly
    • Ability cooldown countdown visual freezes after entering an menu
      • Countdown is still completed and ability is able to be activated
      • Icon resets after swapping heroes
    • Item Effects on Weapons might not show on tooltip for Clients
  • Other
    • Repair speed is taking longer than it should

What’s Next?

We’ll be updating the PTR based on feedback and bug fixes. Meanwhile we’re also still working on Nintendo Switch certification, as well as a DD2 update. We’re plenty busy at Chromatic, and are super excited to share with you this newest update coming to DDA!

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:

For Etheria!
Chromatic Games

  • Like 2

12 Comments

Recommended Comments

Oni EliteZ

So is there not going to be a consideration for console players who would absolutely love to test this out but have not been provided with a way? We are locked out of a reward through no fault of our own. I mean I have been playing since the game released on Xbox and have been following Episode 1 news avidly so I am disappointed to be left out here.

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Batophobia
On 6/24/2021 at 6:54 PM, munkey said:

How about a PSN update?

The only things they've said about the PS version:

1. The Switch version will be first
2. They plan to have it out before 2022

Edited by Batophobia
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Fanny2469

Would love to help if you would let Xbox players help played since day 1 on all 3 game and backed this one.   

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  • Chromatic Games
[CG] Brittani
  • Chromatic Games
On 6/24/2021 at 7:54 PM, munkey said:

How about a PSN update?

Unfortunately, we don't have an update for PlayStation development at this time. We're working on polishing Episode 1 during this testing stage and getting the Switch port through Lot Check right now. Once those two big projects are out to Defenders, we'll be able to spend more time on the PS4 and PS5 development. 

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Fanny2469

I am glad you took the time to answer me a few days later which I understand you busy but next time can you take the time to read what I wrote before just giving me a joke of a answer. Because I DIDN'T ask about Play Station 4 at all  > asked about XBOX  do thanks for caring about your gamers and giving a fake answer. What a joke

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Batophobia
15 hours ago, Fanny2469 said:

next time can you take the time to read what I wrote before just giving me a joke of a answer

Well, they quoted a different user.  So, it likely wasn't intended as an answer to your question.

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  • Chromatic Games
[CG] Brittani
  • Chromatic Games
On 7/1/2021 at 6:46 PM, Fanny2469 said:

I am glad you took the time to answer me a few days later which I understand you busy but next time can you take the time to read what I wrote before just giving me a joke of a answer. Because I DIDN'T ask about Play Station 4 at all  > asked about XBOX  do thanks for caring about your gamers and giving a fake answer. What a joke

My other response was for the PlayStation question I quoted... Not your reward question.

As for your question, to make sure we're getting feedback as quickly as possible, we decided to keep the test realm to Steam/PC. We're able to push patches quickly and more frequently, which speeds up the timeline for getting the polished update out to all Defenders. We'll have other opportunities for console Defenders to earn unique community rewards in the future.

  • Thanks 1
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Oni EliteZ
On 7/7/2021 at 4:04 PM, [CG] Brittani said:

My other response was for the PlayStation question I quoted... Not your reward question.

As for your question, to make sure we're getting feedback as quickly as possible, we decided to keep the test realm to Steam/PC. We're able to push patches quickly and more frequently, which speeds up the timeline for getting the polished update out to all Defenders. We'll have other opportunities for console Defenders to earn unique community rewards in the future.

I understand that certification for consoles means that quick updates can be a nightmare and I am glad to hear that there will be options for consoles players to earn unique rewards and hopefully provide meaningful feedback and maybe even be involved in testing new content, I just hope we won't be in a cycle constantly catching up to rewards that PC players have already had a chance to earn. I have been following along with episode update news constantly and now I feel in a horrible state of limbo until there is an actual release because the testing and feedback is away from us.

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Emilio Hauck

The Public Test Realm is a special service that Blizzard offers to players who want to try upcoming patches and content before it goes live. To participate, you must have a World of Warcraft account that’s in good standing before you decide to get using essay writing services online, and you must have installed the game client on your computer. Once you’ve done that, you can download the PTR client from your account management page.

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