Greetings Defenders,
This is our first Official Public Test Realm (PTR) update from the Dungeon Defenders: Awakened Community Development Team, and we are really excited to roll it out. The PTR is where we can safely try balance passes, new rewards, and experimental ideas with your help before anything lands on the live branch.
If you enjoy building, theory crafting, and breaking things in the name of science, this is the build we want you on. The PTR runs alongside the main game: you can hop in, test wild setups, then swap back to the live branch and keep playing as normal.
For this update, our goals are simple:
- Give builders more tools to play with, through new tower pets, tower weapons, and targeted defense tuning.
- Use your feedback to decide what should go to live as it is, what needs number tweaks, and what might be too disruptive.
We will keep both the Live and PTR branches playable at the same time. Whenever we update the PTR, we will post an announcement on Steam to let everyone know that the branch was updated and to summarize what changed. Over time, we will continue to adjust values and fix issues on the PTR based on your reports until we feel the patch is ready for the live game. At that point, we will ship the patch to the live branch with a final set of official patch notes.
If you want to be directly involved in shaping how DD:A plays, this PTR cycle is your chance. Jump in, stress test your favorite builds, try new things, and tell us what feels strong, weak, confusing, or just plain fun.
HOW TO ACCESS THE PTR (STEAM)
1. Open your Steam Library and right click Dungeon Defenders: Awakened.
2. Click "Properties..."
3. Go to the "Betas" tab.
4. In the dropdown, select the PTR / Public Test Realm branch (usually called "ptr" or similar).
5. Close the window and let Steam download the update.
To go back to the live version, repeat the steps above and set Betas back to "None".
WHAT IS IN THIS PTR UPDATE? (OVERVIEW)
- Series EV and Warden tower balance passes, including big improvements to Proton Beams and Roots of Purity.
- Hero ability cooldown tuning across Squire, Apprentice, Huntress, EV, Monk, Summoner, and Warden.
- Pure Strategy improvements, including Hardcore and Bonus difficulty toggles and a much higher Rift conversion chance.
- New tower-focused pets and class guardians, plus a long list of tower-specific weapon drops for every hero.
- Enemy and Rift damage adjustments that encourage mixing fused and non-fused towers while keeping fusion set bonuses meaningful.
Everything below is PTR only and subject to change based on your feedback.
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TOWERS AND DEFENSES
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SERIES EV - PROTON BEAM
- Maximum beam distance increased from 750 to 1250 (about 12.5 meters of maximum buff length).
- Minimum DU distance increased from 25 to 50 (minimum placement spacing is now about 0.5 meters).
- Maximum DU distance increased from 750 to 1000 (maximum DU cost is reached after about 10 meters, with the remaining length costing fewer DU).
- DU health scale increased from 1.2 to 1.75 (about 45 percent more base health per DU).
- DU health exponent increased to 15 percent, giving a much larger health increase at high stats.
- Health drain per tick reduced from 4.5 HP to 3 HP, so beams last longer while enemies walk through them.
- Defense Rate hero stat exponent increased from 0.20 to 0.25, so Proton Beams reach their maximum attack rate faster.
- Proton Beam Shock Rune stun duration increased from 3 seconds to 5 seconds
SERIES EV - HEAT CANNON
- Defense Range hero stat exponent increased from 0.30 to 0.50.
This gives the Heat Cannon much better range scaling and makes it more viable on larger maps.
WARDEN - ROOTS, WISPS, WRATH, SHROOMY, SLUDGE
Roots of Purity:
- Tower Health hero stat scalar increased from 1.0 to 1.5, bringing it in line with the Magic Blockade.
- Tower Health hero stat exponent increased from 1.005 to 1.055.
Roots of Purity should now feel like a proper, tanky wall option.
Wisp Den:
- Defense Unit cost reduced from 4 DU to 3 DU.
- Wrath Defense Rate buff multiplier increased from 1.25 to 1.30.
- Wisp Rune explosion radius increased from 250 to 500.
- Wrath Mode tooltip updated to match the new behavior.
Shroomy Geyser (Wrath Mode):
- In Wrath Mode, Shroomy Geyser now applies a 10 percent Strength Drain for 3 seconds.
- This debuff is now properly reflected in the UI.
Sludge Launcher:
- Radius of the sludge pool created by its rune increased from 300 to 400, about a 33 percent larger area.
SUMMONER - ARCHER MINIONS
- Tower Health hero stat scalar increased from 1.0 to 1.25.
This is about 25 percent more health and lets Archers reach well over one million HP with high Vitality.
- Life Leech Rune health penalty reduced:
- Internal value reduced from 1.0 to 0.6.
- At rank 8 this lowers the maximum HP reduction from around 25 percent to roughly 10 to 15 percent.
This makes Life Leech much less punishing to use on Archers.
GUARDIAN - DIVINE JUDGEMENT
- Divine Judgement blast radius increased from 150 to 350, making the hit box much easier to connect with.
- Spellbook updated to reflect this change.
HOLY BULWARK
- Holy Bulwark’s protection effect now applies correctly.
The range scaling previously reused a divide by 100 that did not belong on the effect, which made it far weaker than intended. The effect now scales properly with the circle.
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HERO ABILITY REBALANCES
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Overall, heroes are in a good place. These changes mostly align cooldowns and uptime for similar abilities across classes.
SQUIRE
- Blood Rage cooldown increased from 5 seconds to 8 seconds.
The ability still has long uptime, but now has a cooldown that better matches its power.
- Spellbook updated to reflect recent tower changes.
- Bowling Ball Tower description updated for clarity.
APPRENTICE
- Overcharge cooldown increased from 5 seconds to 8 seconds.
Like Blood Rage, Overcharge had very long uptime for a short cooldown.
- Arcane Blast Rune:
- Now applies a debuff to any enemy hit.
- The debuff causes the enemy to take 15 percent more damage for 5 seconds.
- This debuff can stack up to 3 times (for a total of 45 percent increased damage taken).
- Arcane Blast Rune tooltip updated to describe the new effect.
HUNTRESS
- Adrenaline Rush cooldown increased from 5 seconds to 8 seconds.
The ability still has essentially permanent uptime, but the cooldown now reads more reasonably.
- Piercing Shot cooldown reduced from 7 seconds to 6 seconds, bringing it closer in line with Circular Slice.
- Second Chance now procs on damage dealt instead of on enemy kill.
It currently seems to apply once per trigger, but the child grenade it spawns can also spawn another.
SERIES EV (HERO)
- Series EV now has access to the Arcane Blast Rune.
- Decoy Rune (Decoy GR):
- Duration increased to 8 seconds.
- Post multiplicative additive value increased from 1.0 to 1.4.
This increases the rune’s power scaling and lets Decoy GR reach about 350 percent at level 8.
- Decoy ability (EV ability 1):
- Full stat exponent increased from 0.33 to 0.50.
This increases the scaling of the final stat value by roughly 48 percent.
- Full stat scalar increased from 0.1 to 0.2.
The final stat is now multiplied by 20 percent instead of 10 percent.
- Known interaction:
- Series EV can equip the Arcane Blast Rune, but it does not function if you equip Decoy GR or Second Chance Grenade with this rune, because those override the ability at the moment.
MONK
- Tower Boost cooldown reduced to 12 seconds.
- Hero Boost cooldown increased to 8 seconds.
SUMMONER
- Pet Boost cooldown increased to 8 seconds.
WARDEN (ABILITIES)
- Wrath ability cooldown increased from 5 seconds to 8 seconds.
- Empowering Rune linger duration after leaving the circle increased from 5 seconds to 10 seconds.
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PURE STRATEGY AND RIFT MODE
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PURE STRATEGY
- Pure Strategy can now toggle Hardcore mode.
- Pure Strategy can now toggle Bonus difficulties.
- In Massacre Pure Strategy, Rift enemy conversion scalars have been increased:
- All regular Rift enemy conversion scalars changed from 0.3 to 0.8.
- Ogres changed from 1.0 to 0.9.
In practice, this means there is now roughly an 80 percent chance for enemies to spawn as Rifted variants and a 90 percent chance for Ogres to spawn as Rifted Ogres.
REWARDS - TOWER PETS AND TOWER WEAPONS
- The Victory Chest in Massacre Pure Strategy now drops tower pets on completion.
These follow the drop locations listed in the pet guide.
- The Victory Chest now also drops tower weapons upon completing a Pure Strategy map.
- All tower weapons drop with Armor Passives.
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TOWER PETS AND GUARDIANS
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BASE TOWER PET TEMPLATES
Non-Rift tower pets now use this baseline:
- Tower Health = 0.5
- Tower Damage = 0.5
- Tower Range = 0.5
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (if applicable)
- Hero Damage = 1.0
Rift tower pets use this baseline:
- Tower Health = 0.8
- Tower Damage = 0.8
- Tower Range = 0.8
- Tower Speed = 0.8
The following tower pets have specific stat templates. Values are scaling coefficients.
Hippogryph:
- Tower Health = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Damage = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
Mista Mine:
- Hero Health = 3.6 (Rift = 4.0)
- Tower Health = 1.0 (Rift = 1.5)
- Tower Range = 1.0 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0 (Rift = 1.5)
Steam Robot:
- Tower Health = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Damage = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
Propeller Cat:
- Hero Damage = 1.5 (Rift = 2.5)
- Tower Damage = 0.5 (Rift = 1.0)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 1.0)
Paddle Ball:
- Tower Health = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Damage = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
Little Wizard:
- Tower Health = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Damage = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
Etherian Ancient:
- Tower Health = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Damage = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
Genie:
- Special: your next attack will give you build mana with a short cooldown.
- Tower Health = 0 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Damage = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Ability = 1.5 (Rift = 1.5)
Ramster Can:
- Hero Damage = 1.5 (Rift = 2.0)
- Tower Damage = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Speed = 1.0 (Rift = 1.5)
Monkey King:
- Hero Damage = 2.75 (Rift = 3.0)
- Tower Damage = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
Ramster:
- Tower Health = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Damage = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
Fairy:
- Hero Health = 2.5 (Rift = 2.75)
- Tower Health = 1.0 (Rift = 1.25)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
Helping Hand:
- Tower Health = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Damage = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
Baby Dragon:
- Tower Health = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Damage = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
Squire Guardian (tower pet variant):
- Hero Ability = 2.55
- Tower Health = 0.55
- Tower Damage = 0.55
Apprentice Guardian (tower pet variant):
- Hero Ability = 2.55
- Tower Damage = 0.55
- Tower Speed = 0.55
Huntress Guardian (tower pet variant):
- Hero Ability = 2.55
- Tower Health = 0.55
- Tower Speed = 0.55
Monk Guardian (tower pet variant):
- Hero Ability = 2.55
- Tower Damage = 0.55
- Tower Range = 0.55
Mega Chicken:
- Tower Health = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Damage = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
Happy Cloud:
- Hero Health = 2.55 (Rift = 3.0)
- Tower Health = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
Angry Cloud:
- Hero Health = 2.55 (Rift = 3.0)
- Tower Health = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
Lycan Prince:
- Hero Health = 2.55 (Rift = 3.0)
- Tower Health = 1.0 (Rift = 1.5)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
Demi Demon Lord:
- Tower Health = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Damage = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
Hammel:
- Tower Health = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Damage = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
Genie Lamp:
- Tower Health = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Damage = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
Zephyr:
- Tower Health = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Damage = 0 (Rift = 0.8)
- Tower Range = 0.5 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0.5 (Rift = 0.8)
Dice:
- Special: this pet gives build mana when hitting an enemy.
- Hero Ability = 2.55 (Rift = 3.0)
- Tower Damage = 0 (Rift = 1.0)
- Tower Range = 0.75 (Rift = 0)
- Tower Speed = 0.75 (Rift = 1.0)
CLASS GUARDIANS
Tower guardians have been made as functional copies of the gemstone buffs. They currently scale slightly higher than Helping Hands. They buff in the same way as gemstones:
- Squire Guardian: "health gemstone" style buff. Focuses on tower health, with tower damage and tower speed as secondary stats.
- Monk Guardian: "range gemstone" style buff. Focuses on tower range, with tower health and tower damage as secondary stats.
- Huntress Guardian: "rate gemstone" style buff. Focuses on tower rate, with tower health and tower range as secondary stats.
- Apprentice Guardian: "damage gemstone" style buff. Focuses on tower damage, with tower health as a secondary stat.
All four class guardians drop on Summit.
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TOWER WEAPONS
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All of the following weapons drop from the Victory Chest at the end of a Pure Strategy map.
Each is tuned toward tower stats, and all of them drop with Armor Passives.
SQUIRE – SWORDS
Non-Rift:
1. Comically Large Sword
- Main Stat: Tower Health
- Rolls with Hero Attack = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Health = 0.5
- Drops on: Magus Quarters
2. Red Saber
- Main Stat: Tower Damage
- Rolls with Hero Attack = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Damage = 0.5
- Drops on: Deeper Well
3. Spireblade
- Main Stat: Tower Speed
- Rolls with Hero Attack = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Speed = 0.5
- Drops on: Throne Room
4. Crystal Shard
- Main Stat: Tower Damage
- Rolls with Hero Attack = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Damage = 0.5
- Drops on: Royal Gardens
5. Oakheart
- Main Stat: Tower Range
- Rolls with Hero Attack = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Range = 0.5
- Drops on: The Mill
Rift:
1. Fidget Spinner
- Main Stat: Tower Damage
- Rolls with Hero Health = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Damage = 0.5
- Drops on: Deeper Well
2. Fused Saber
- Main Stat: Tower Health
- Rolls with Hero Health = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Health = 0.5
- Drops on: Magus Quarters
3. Fused Spireblade
- Main Stat: Tower Speed
- Rolls with Hero Health = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Speed = 0.5
- Drops on: Endless Spires
4. Fused Oakheart
- Main Stat: Tower Range
- Rolls with Hero Health = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Range = 0.5
- Drops on: Promenade
5. Fused Crystal Shard
- Main Stat: Tower Damage
- Rolls with Hero Health = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Damage = 0.5
- Drops on: The Outpost
APPRENTICE – STAVES
Non-Rift:
1. Comically Large Staff
- Main Stat: Tower Damage
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Damage = 0.5
- Drops on: Glitterhelm
2. Bone Chill
- Main Stat: Tower Damage
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Damage = 0.5
- Drops on: Ancient Mines
3. Tsuda’s Final Creation
- Main Stat: Tower Speed
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Speed = 0.5
- Drops on: The Outpost
4. Scarlet Prism
- Main Stat: Tower Health
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Health = 0.5
- Drops on: The Ramparts
5. Oakshade
- Main Stat: Tower Range
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Range = 0.5
- Drops on: Arcane Library
Rift:
1. Spellbinder
- Main Stat: Tower Damage
- Rolls with Hero Health = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Damage = 0.5
- Drops on: Ancient Mines
2. Ion Channel
- Main Stat: Tower Speed
- Rolls with Hero Health = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Speed = 0.5
- Drops on: Tornado Valley
3. Astralune
- Main Stat: Tower Health
- Rolls with Hero Health = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Health = 0.5
- Drops on: Throne Room
4. Fused Oakshade
- Main Stat: Tower Range
- Rolls with Hero Health = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Range = 0.5
- Drops on: Summit
5. Fused Crystal Staff
- Main Stat: Tower Damage
- Rolls with Hero Health = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Damage = 0.5
- Drops on: The Bazaar
MONK – POLEARMS
Non-Rift:
1. Comically Large Polearm
- Main Stat: Tower Range
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Range = 0.5
2. Red Twin Saber
- Main Stat: Tower Range
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Health = 0.5
- Drops on: Lava Mines
3. Crystal Polearm
- Main Stat: Tower Speed
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Speed = 0.5
- Drops on: Tornado Highlands
4. Talonheart
- Main Stat: Tower Health
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Health = 0.5
- Drops on: Summit
5. Ankhfeather
- Main Stat: Tower Damage
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Damage = 0.5
- Drops on: The Forsaken Temple
Rift:
1. Fused Crystal Polearm
- Main Stat: Tower Speed
- Rolls with Hero Health = 1.5, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Speed = 0.5
- Drops on: Lava Mines
2. Fused Twin Saber
- Main Stat: Tower Range
- Rolls with Hero Health, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Range = 0.5
- Drops on: Tornado Highlands
3. Fused Oakspike
- Main Stat: Tower Range
- Rolls with Hero Health, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Range = 0.5
- Drops on: Arcane Library
4. Fused Warfang
- Main Stat: Tower Health
- Rolls with Hero Health, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Health = 0.5
- Drops on: Forges and Foundries
5. Fused Thrustworthy
- Main Stat: Tower Damage
- Rolls with Hero Health, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Damage = 0.5
- Drops on: Glitterhelm
HUNTRESS – CROSSBOWS
Non-Rift:
1. Comically Large Bow
- Main Stat: Tower Speed
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Speed = 0.5
- Drops on: Endless Spires
2. Hen Blaster 9000
- Main Stat: Tower Speed
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Speed = 0.5
- Drops on: Tornado Valley
3. Wyrmbolt
- Main Stat: Tower Damage
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Damage = 0.5
- Drops on: Alchemical Laboratory
4. Crystal Bow
- Main Stat: Tower Health
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Health = 0.5
- Drops on: The Keep
5. Fragmenter
- Main Stat: Tower Range
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Range = 0.5
- Drops on: Promenade
Rift:
1. Fused Massfire
- Main Stat: Tower Speed
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Speed = 0.5
- Drops on: Alchemical Laboratory
2. Fused Scorcher
- Main Stat: Tower Speed
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Speed = 0.5
- Drops on: Throne Ramparts
3. Fused Paintstorm
- Main Stat: Tower Damage
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Damage = 0.5
- Drops on: Royal Gardens
4. Fused Oakbolt
- Main Stat: Tower Health
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Health = 0.5
- Drops on: The Mill
5. Fused Crystal Bow
- Main Stat: Tower Range
- Rolls with Hero Attack, Hero Ability = 1.5, Tower Range = 0.5
- Drops on: The Keep
ADDITIONAL TOWER WEAPON NOTES
- Lost Metropolis drops a random staff.
- The Bazaar drops a random polearm.
- King’s Game drops a random Huntress weapon.
- Class Guardians drop on Summit.
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OTHER PET AND GEMSTONE CHANGES
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- Yellow Ramster should no longer incorrectly apply its effects to towers.
- Gold Genie now correctly gives Ability Mana.
- Chubs the Corgi now correctly applies its damage boost.
- Chubs’ self damage buff increased from 15 percent to 100 percent.
This is a self buff only and stacks with other hero buffs.
- Lapis Gemstone item card updated to describe its effect more clearly.
- Topaz Gemstone item card updated to remove confusion about what it does.
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ENEMY AND RIFT DAMAGE CHANGES
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- All non-Rifted enemies now have 85 percent damage reduction against Rift damage outside of Rifted mode.
- To keep the Fusion set bonus at roughly 100 percent effective damage against Rifted enemies, the Rifted mode damage buff on affected enemies has been increased by 85 percent.
The intent of these changes is:
- To add a meaningful drawback to using mostly Rift damage outside Rifted mode.
- To encourage mixing fused and non-fused towers, especially as we move toward spawn rate changes in Rifted mode that are closer to Pure Strategy.
Thank you for helping us test