Happy holidays, Defenders!
We’re bringing a Christmas-flavored PTR update your way, packed with new loot, returning fan-favorite pets, Arcanist armor adjustments, and some love for Challenge and Pure Strategy modes. Think of this as a stocking full of toys for your builders and min-maxers to dig into over the break. As always, all of this is on the PTR first so we can gather your feedback and tune things before it hits live.
Pure Strategy Loot Scaling
- Pure Strategy has had its loot scaling to be inline with mixed mode.
- This brings its rewards more in line with other high-end modes and makes it more rewarding to push.
- The victory chest awarded for completing waves other than wave 15 and 25 is now awarded in pure strategy modified with a bonus difficulty
Kringler’s Cap and Boss Accessories
- Kringler’s Cap now drops in Yuletide.
-It’s scalars are equivalent to a boss accessory.
- Boss accessories have been added to their respective boss maps in Pure Strategy.
- They roll as normal accessories, just like other boss drops.
Pet Additions and Changes
We’ve brought back 4 class DPS pets by popular demand from the original game: the Animuses.
- Squire Animus
- Apprentice Animus
- Monk Animus
- Huntress Animus
General Animus behavior:
Drops in place of the gemstones on mix mode summit
- These Pets fire up to 3 projectiles that explode on impact.
- Animus Pets roll with a random element (discluding fusion)
- Animus stats (PTR tuning):
- Range: 2200
- Damage Scalar: 185
- Attack Rate: 0.63
- Explosion Radius: 500
A brief description of each Animus:
1. Squire – “A reflection of the Squire’s unbreakable will, this Animus answers every threat with disciplined force and relentless defense.”
2. Monk – “Channeling twisted inner energy, the Monk Animus strikes with calm precision, punishing all who threaten Etheria’s harmony.”
3. Huntress – “Cold, patient, and merciless, the Huntress Animus hunts without hesitation, eliminating threats before they can advance.”
4. Apprentice – “Fueled by raw arcane hunger, the Apprentice Animus unleashes destructive light, caring little for restraint as long as Etheria is protected.”
- Gold Mini Demon Lord:
- The fastest attack rate is now capped at 0.25 seconds.
- Rift Mini Demon Lord:
- The fastest attack rate is now capped at 0.30 seconds.
Crystal Core & Gold Crystal Core
- Crystal Core now drops on Warping Core and Moving Core:
- Main stat: Defense Damage.
- Rolls with:
- Defense Damage (scalar 0.6)
- Tower Health (scalar 0.6)
- Ability (scalar 1.5)
- The Rift variant focuses on Ability as well, matching this layout with Rift scaling.
- Gold Crystal Core now drops on Warping Core and Moving Core (with conditions):
- You must have a Bonus Difficulty toggled to obtain this reward.
- Main stat: Defense Damage.
- Rolls with:
- Defense Damage (scalar 0.75)
- Tower Health (scalar 0.75)
- Ability (scalar 1.5)
- 10% drop chance.
Golden Tower Buff Gemstones:
- Gold variants of all tower buff gemstones are now awarded on completing Wave 100 on Summit.
- 20% chance to be awarded.
- These gold gemstones:
- Roll with hero stats.
- Main stat: Hero Health with a scalar of 3.
- Buff effects are 10% stronger than their original counterparts.
Note:
- Just like other golden pets, you must:
- Have Rifted Mode Toggled
- Have a Bonus Difficulty toggled to be eligible for the reward.
Arcanist Armor Adjustments
- All 4 Arcanist armor pieces now drop on Act 4 and 5 boss maps:
- Arcanist Crown and Arcanist Chest: drop on The Keep.
- Arcanist Boots and Arcanist Gloves: drop on Forsaken Temple.
- Arcanist pieces are treated like other fused gear but will prevent completion of the fused primitive set when equipped.
- All Arcanist pieces can now be used with regular (non-fused) armor to complete their standard set bonuses.
- Each piece grants fusion to a specific tower slot and prevents completing a particular fused armor set:
- Crown: Grants fusion to Tower 1 → prevents completion of the Tower 4 set with Miner Armor.
- Gloves: Grants fusion to Tower 2 → prevents completion of the Tower 3 set with Militia Armor.
- Chest: Grants fusion to Tower 3 → prevents completion of the Tower 2 set with Guard Armor.
- Boots: Grants fusion to Tower 4 → prevents completion of the Tower 1 set with Ancient Armor.
Fused Boss Accessories (Rifted, Defense 5)
New fused boss accessories now drop on all boss maps in Rifted Pure Strategy:
- These accessories are Defense 5 (rifted) versions and grant tower fusion.
Challenge Mode Updates
- Challenge Mode now has Bonus Difficulties enabled.
- Challenge Mode can now toggle Rift Mode.
- Rift Mode in Challenge follows the same enemy spawn percentages as the other modes.
- A reward chest has been added to Challenge Rifted Mode on all maps..
- Bonus Difficulties are now toggleable in Challenge Mode.
- Bonus Difficulties in Challenge Mode scale similarly to Mixed Mode for loot
Challenge Weapons & Rifted Versions
- Challenge weapons have been renamed to match their Dungeon Defenders 1 counterparts.
- Their original DD1-style weapon descriptions have been restored.
- Their scaling and stats remain unchanged.
- Rift Mode now awards Rifted versions of all challenge weapons.
- These versions retain the identity and feel of the originals, with Rifted-style stat treatment.
- Created a new boss accessory for Forsaken Temple:
- Seal of the Forsaken (a new brooch-type accessory).
- Created new Rift icons for:
- Sapphire Brooch
- Soldier’s Bracer
- Ancient Monocle
- King’s Face
- Seal of the Forsaken
Thank you so much for playing, testing, and sharing your thoughts with us. The feedback you’ve given during these PTR cycles has a huge impact on how we tune balance, build rewards, and plan future updates. There’s a lot packed into this holiday PTR, and we really appreciate everyone who takes the time to jump in and experiment with it. Our current goal is to move this PTR patch to the live branch before the start of the new year, as long as things are stable and your feedback doesn’t reveal any major issues. We can’t promise an exact date, but that’s the window we’re aiming for, and your testing helps us get there. If you’d like to support the game’s ongoing development, please consider checking out our DLC on Steam. And if you want to chat with other Defenders, share builds, or give direct feedback, we’d love to see you in the official Discord server (you can find the link on the store page or in our community posts). From all of us working on Dungeon Defenders: Awakened, thank you for your support, your patience, and your passion for the game. Have a wonderful holiday season, and happy defending!
Sincerely,
The Community Development Team