Greetings Defenders,
Thank you again for everything you did on PTR. The testing, the build sharing, the bug reports, and the blunt feedback made this update possible, and we genuinely wouldn’t be here without you. As we close out 2025, this patch sets the stage for us to keep expanding these systems in 2026 with more rewards, more tuning, and more ways to play. We still have some early-game flow tweaks to make and a few bugs to iron out, but this gets us much closer to bigger goals like strengthening our foundation for future updates and continuing the work needed to support consoles and new content.
SUMMARY
Big tower balance passes (Series EV, Warden, Summoner, Guardian, and more)
Hero cooldown tuning across multiple classes
Pure Strategy and Challenge Mode reward/scaling fixes and improvements
Rift Mode tuning (spawn rates, resistance math, and problem enemy cases)
Tower weapons reworked to feel more tower-first, with dedicated passive pools and updated rolls
Fused accessories cleaned up, with better consistency and new passive behavior
Arcanist armor behavior updated for fairness, clarity, and less build bricking
Tower pets normalized and buffed (scalars, bonuses, range changes, naming cleanup)
Holiday and boss rewards expanded (Kringler’s Cap, boss accessories, Crystal Core, icons)
Rune drop fixes and improved low-tier rune frequency
TOWERS AND DEFENSES
SERIES EV
Proton Beam
Maximum beam distance increased from 750 to 1250
Minimum DU distance increased from 25 to 50
Maximum DU distance increased from 750 to 1000
DU health scale increased from 1.2 to 1.75
DU health exponent increased to 15%
Health drain per tick reduced from 4.5 HP to 3 HP
Defense Rate hero stat exponent increased from 0.20 to 0.25
Shock Rune stun duration increased from 3 seconds to 5 seconds
Heat Cannon
Defense Range hero stat exponent increased from 0.30 to 0.50
WARDEN
Roots of Purity
Tower Health scalar increased from 1.0 to 1.5
Tower Health exponent increased from 1.005 to 1.055
Wisp Den
Defense Unit cost reduced from 4 DU to 3 DU
Wrath Defense Rate buff multiplier increased from 1.25 to 1.30
Rune explosion radius increased from 250 to 500
Shroomy Geyser (Wrath Mode)
Now applies a 10% Strength Drain for 3 seconds
UI now properly reflects the de-buff
Sludge Launcher
Sludge pool radius (from rune) increased from 300 to 400
SUMMONER – ARCHER MINIONS
Tower Health scalar increased from 1.0 to 1.25
Life Leech Rune health penalty reduced
Internal value reduced from 1.0 to 0.6
Rank 8 HP reduction lowered from about 25% to roughly 10–15%
GUARDIAN – DIVINE JUDGEMENT
Blast radius increased from 150 to 350
Spell-book updated to reflect the change
HOLY BULWARK
Protection effect now applies correctly (range scaling fix)
DEADLY STRIKER TOWER
Attack speed scaling improved
Exponent increased to 0.85 (up from 0.77)
HERO ABILITY REBALANCES
SQUIRE
Blood Rage cooldown increased from 5 seconds to 8 seconds
Spell-book updated
Bowling Ball Tower description updated
APPRENTICE
Overcharge cooldown increased from 5 seconds to 8 seconds
Arcane Blast Rune now applies a de-buff
Enemies take 15% more damage for 5 seconds
Stacks up to 3 times
Tooltip updated
HUNTRESS
Adrenaline Rush cooldown increased from 5 seconds to 8 seconds
Piercing Shot cooldown reduced from 7 seconds to 6 seconds
Second Chance now procs on damage dealt (instead of enemy killed)
SERIES EV (HERO)
Series EV now has access to Arcane Blast Rune
Decoy Rune (Decoy GR)
Duration increased to 8 seconds
Post-multiplicative additive value increased from 1.0 to 1.4
Decoy scaling (EV ability 1)
Full stat exponent increased from 0.33 to 0.50
Full stat scalar increased from 0.1 to 0.2
Known interaction
Arcane Blast Rune does not function correctly if Decoy GR or Second Chance Grenade overrides the ability
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 cooldown increased from 5 seconds to 8 seconds
Empowering Rune linger duration after leaving the circle increased from 5 seconds to 10 seconds
Wrath tooltip updated
PURE STRATEGY UPDATES
Hardcore can now be toggled
Bonus Difficulties can now be toggled
Special enemies added to Pure Strategy across all maps in Acts 1–3
Pure Strategy loot scaling updated to be in line with Mixed Mode
Pure Strategy loot floor now properly matches Mixed Mode
Bonus Wave and Bonus Wave Hardcore chests now properly spawn in all modes
All difficulties now correctly scale up when Hardcore and Rift Mode are enabled
Wave chest behavior fixed in Pure Strategy (Hardcore + Bonus Difficulty now correctly spawns a Hardcore chest and avoids accidentally awarding extra map-specific rewards)
Victory chest behavior fixed for Pure Strategy when using Bonus Difficulties
CHALLENGE MODE UPDATES
Bonus Difficulties enabled and toggleable
Challenge Mode can now toggle Rift Mode (same spawn percentages as other modes)
Rift Mode now properly applies in Challenge Mode
Reward chest added to Challenge Rifted Mode on all maps
Frequently drops Godly items
Challenge weapons renamed to match their Dungeon Defenders 1 counterparts
Original DD1-style weapon descriptions restored
Scaling and stats unchanged
Rift Mode awards Rifted versions of all challenge weapons
RIFT MODE and ENEMIES UPDATES
Rift Conversion Scalar (what it means)
Rift Conversion Scalar is the chance for an enemy to spawn as a Rifted variant
Example: 0.8 means an 80% chance
Current spawn behavior
Rift Conversion Scalar is 0.8 for all enemies in Campaign, Survival, Mix Mode, and Pure Strategy
Deeper Well updated to match these conversion settings across all game modes
Ogres now spawn Rifted 100% of the time
Resistance and damage tuning (final values)
Non-Rift enemies now have 50% Rift damage reduction (reduced again based on Survival wave feedback)
Rifted enemies now take 150% bonus fusion damage to keep fusion damage behavior consistent when enemies spawn Rifted (This preserves the double damage nature of rift damage)
Sirens no longer have a Rift resistance (they were overly punishing to deal with)
Gold enemies buffed by a Rifted Djinn are no longer immune to crowd control (so players have a real chance to stop them)
Training dummy updates
Non-Rift training dummy now matches the same Rift resistance non-Rift enemies have
Rifted training dummy damage intake updated to reflect the intended fusion math
ARCANIST ARMOR
Drop locations
Arcanist Crown and Arcanist Chest drop on The Keep
Arcanist Boots and Arcanist Gloves drop on Forsaken Temple
Fusion behavior and set rules
Arcanist pieces will not fuse or complete the set bonus with the specific fused armor sets they are restricted from completing
Arcanist armor no longer completes weapon set bonuses
All Arcanist pieces can now be used to complete Regular armor sets
Updated descriptions on all Arcanist armor pieces for clarity
Restriction mapping
Crown: grants fusion to Tower 1 and prevents completion of the Tower 2 Guard Armor fused set
Gloves: grants fusion to Tower 2 and prevents completion of the Tower 1 Ancient Armor fused set
Chest: grants fusion to Tower 3 and prevents completion of the Tower 4 Miner Armor fused set
Boots: grants fusion to Tower 4 and prevents completion of the Tower 3 Militia Armor fused set
Stat roll consistency
Arcanist Gloves: no longer guarantees Tower Health (all stats now have equal chance)
Arcanist Boots: no longer guarantees Tower Health (all stats now have equal chance)
Arcanist Chest: no longer guarantees Tower Health (all stats now have equal chance)
TOWER WEAPONS
General rules
Tower weapons drop after completing Wave 15 and 25 (Hardcore on or off) in Pure Strategy
Tower weapons drop in all difficulties, in both Rift and non-Rift
Non-fused tower weapons can drop even in Rift mode
Tower weapons use a dedicated passive pool (separate from normal weapon passives)
Tower weapon passive pool
Passive | Weight |
% Damage | 60 |
Tower Damage | 375 |
Tower Health | 375 |
Tower Range | 375 |
Tower Speed | 375 |
MP Regen | 60 |
Move Speed | 60 |
Cast Rate | 375 |
Drop fixes
Glitterhelm’s tower weapon should now drop properly upon completion
Forsaken Temple tower weapons should now drop properly upon completion
Comically Large Sword can now be sold
Updated tower weapon rolls (drop locations unchanged)
SQUIRE
Non-fused
Comically Large Sword (Magus Quarters)
Main stat: Tower Health
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Tower Speed (0.9), Tower Health (0.9)
Red Saber (Deeper Well)
Main stat: Tower Damage
Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)
Spireblade (Throne Room)
Main stat: Tower Speed
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)
Crystal Shard (Royal Gardens)
Main stat: Tower Damage
Rolls with: Tower Health (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)
Oakheart (The Mill)
Main stat: Tower Range
Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)
Fused
Fidget Spinner (Deeper Well)
Main stat: Tower Damage
Rolls with: Tower Health (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)
Fused Saber (Magus Quarters)
Main stat: Tower Health
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)
Fused Spireblade (Endless Spires)
Main stat: Tower Speed
Rolls with: Tower Health (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)
Fused Oakheart (Promenade)
Main stat: Tower Range
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Range (0.9)
Fused Crystal Shard (The Outpost)
Main stat: Tower Damage
Rolls with: Tower Speed (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)
APPRENTICE
Non-fused
Comically Large Tower Staff (Glitterhelm)
Main stat: Tower Damage
Rolls with: Tower Health (0.9), Tower Speed (0.9), Tower Damage (0.9)
Bone Chill (Ancient Mines)
Main stat: Tower Damage
Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)
Tsuda’s Final Creation (The Outpost)
Main stat: Tower Speed
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)
Scarlet Prism (The Ramparts)
Main stat: Tower Health
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)
Oakshade (Arcane Library)
Main stat: Tower Range
Rolls with: Tower Speed, Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Range (0.9)
Fused
Spellbinder (Ancient Mines)
Main stat: Tower Damage
Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)
Ion Channel (Tornado Valley)
Main stat: Tower Speed
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)
Astralune (Throne Room)
Main stat: Tower Health
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)
Fused Oakshade (Summit)
Main stat: Tower Range
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Range (0.9)
Fused Crystal Staff (The Bazaar)
Main stat: Tower Damage
Rolls with: Tower Speed (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)
MONK
Non-fused
Comically Large Tower Polearm (Forges and Foundries)
Main stat: Tower Range
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Tower Health (0.9), Tower Range (0.9)
Red Twin-Saber (Lava Mines)
Main stat: Tower Health
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)
Crystal Polearm (Tornado Highlands)
Main stat: Tower Speed
Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.5)
Talonheart (Summit)
Main stat: Tower Health
Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)
Ankhfeather (Forsaken Temple)
Main stat: Tower Damage
Rolls with: Tower Speed (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)
Fused
Fused Crystal Polearm (Lava Mines)
Main stat: Tower Speed
Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)
Fused Twin-Saber (Tornado Highlands)
Main stat: Tower Range
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Range (0.9)
Fused Oakspike (Arcane Library)
Main stat: Tower Range
Rolls with: Tower Health (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Range (0.9)
Fused Warfang (Forges and Foundries)
Main stat: Tower Health
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)
Fused Thrustworthy (Glitterhelm)
Main stat: Tower Damage
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower speed (0.9)
HUNTRESS
Non-fused
Comically Large Tower Bow (Endless Spires)
Main stat: Tower Speed
Rolls with: Tower Health (0.9), Tower Range (0.9), Tower Speed (0.9)
Hen Blaster 9000 (Tornado Valley)
Main stat: Tower Speed
Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)
Wyrmbolt (Alchemical Laboratory)
Main stat: Tower Damage
Rolls with: Tower Speed (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)
Crystal Bow (The Keep)
Main stat: Tower Health
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)
Fragmenter (Promenade)
Main stat: Tower Range
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Range (0.9)
Fused
Fused Massfire (Alchemical Laboratory)
Main stat: Tower Speed
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)
Fused Scorcher (Throne Room)
Main stat: Tower Speed
Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)
Fused Paintstorm (Royal Gardens)
Main stat: Tower Damage
Rolls with: Tower Health (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)
Fused Oakbolt (The Mill)
Main stat: Tower Health
Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)
Fused Crystal Bow (The Keep)
Main stat: Tower Range
Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Range (0.9)
Extra drop notes
Lost Metropolis drops a random staff
The Bazaar drops a random polearm
King’s Game drops a random Huntress weapon
FUSED ACCESSORIES
Fused accessories now have their own passive pool
Fused accessories drop after completing Wave 15 and 25 Pure Strategy on a boss map (Hardcore on or off)
Fused accessories are exclusive to Massacre difficulty (lower difficulties will drop a regular accessory)
Rift boss accessories cant be used to complete fusion armor sets
Fused accessory passive pool
Passive | Weight |
% Damage (Repair) | 60 |
MP Regen | 33 |
Move Speed | 33 |
% Armor (Repair) | 60 |
% Armor (Upgrade) | 60 |
% Damage (Upgrade) | 60 |
HP Regen Tower Damage Tower Health Tower Range Tower Speed | 33 60 60 60 60 |
PETS
Tower pet scaling sweep
All tower stats on tower pets had their scalars increased to 1.0 (anything below 1.0 was raised to 1.0)
DPS pet range changes
Rift DPS pets received a 25% range increase
Gold DPS pets received a 50% range increase
Happy Hera range increased from 700 to 900
Raging Zeus range increased from 700 to 900
Lil’ Bomber did not receive an increase
Animus pets (returning class DPS pets)
Added Squire, Apprentice, Monk, and Huntress Animus pets
Drops in place of gemstones on Mix Mode Summit
Fires up to 3 projectiles that explode on impact
Rolls with a random element (excluding fusion)
Current tuning
Range: 2200
Damage Scalar: 185
Attack Rate: 0.4
Explosion Radius: 500
Mini Demon Lord caps
Gold Mini Demon Lord fastest attack rate capped at 0.25 seconds
Rift Mini Demon Lord fastest attack rate capped at 0.30 seconds
Class Guardians
Class Guardians are functional copies of gemstone buffs and drop on Summit:
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.
Tower Giraffe on a Treadmill
Awarded on completing Wave 25 in Pure Strategy
Provide 10% Cast Rate and 5% Active Hero bonus
Roll with 0.85 scalars and have 4 builder-style variants
There are 4 variants, each tuned for different builder styles:
1. Rolls with Tower Speed, Tower Range, Tower Damage.
2. Rolls with Tower Health, Tower Damage, Tower Range.
3. Rolls with Tower Health, Tower Speed, Tower Range.
4. Rolls with Tower Damage, Tower Speed, Tower Health.
Pet naming and cleanup
Rifted Propeller Cat renamed to Fused Propeller Cat
Yellow Ramster Can renamed to Fused Yellow Ramster Can
Rifted Mista Mine renamed to Fused Mista Mine
Rifted Mystical Genie renamed to Fused Mystical Genie
Golden Dice pet name fixed to match “Golden” naming
Fused Mista Mine no longer has double names
Per-pet bonuses
Tower Dice: all variants now have 25% Move Speed
Note: The tower dice gives build mana to the hero when it crits
Tower Fairy: all variants now have 30% Cast Rate
Tower Genie: all variants now have 15% Versatility
Note Attacks give build mana with the tower genie's effect active
Tower Griffin: all variants now have 15% Versatility
Tower Prop Cat: all variants now have 30% Cast Rate
Tower Steam Robot: all variants now have 15% Versatility
Tower Raging Zeus: all variants now have 25% Move Speed
Tower Demi-Demon Lord: all variants now have 15% Versatility
Tower Ancient Baby Dragon: all variants now have 30% Cast Rate
Tower Etherian Ancient: all variants now have 15% Versatility
Tower Hammel: all variants now have 25% Move Speed
Tower Happy Hera: all variants now have 30% Cast Rate
Tower Little Wizard: all variants now have 15% Versatility
Tower Lycan Prince: all variants now have 25% Move Speed
Tower Mega Chicken: all variants now have 30% Cast Rate
Tower Monkey King: all variants now have 15% Versatility
Tower Paddle Ball: all variants now have 25% Move Speed
Tower Chargin’ Ramster: all variants now have 30% Cast Rate
Tower Yellow Ramster Can: all variants now have 15% Versatility
Tower Zephyr: all variants now have 15% Versatility
Golden gemstones
Golden Gemstones now drop at Wave 100+ Survival on The Summit
20% drop chance (mimics the survival pet reward for act 3)
A Golden Gemstone can contain one of the 4 different buff effects
Requirements: Rift Mode toggled + Bonus Difficulty toggled
Other pet and gemstone fixes
Yellow Ramster no longer incorrectly applies 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% to 100% (self-buff only, stacks with other hero buffs)
Lapis and Topaz gemstone item cards updated for clarity
HOLIDAY AND BOSS REWARDS
Kringler’s Cap now drops in Yuletide and has scalars equivalent to a boss accessory
Kringler’s Cap now also drops in Survival, Mixed Mode, and Campaign (with both Rifted and Non-Rifted toggles active)
Boss accessories added to their respective boss maps in Pure Strategy (roll as normal accessories)
Seal of the Forsaken added as a new boss accessory (Forsaken Temple)
Rift icons added for Sapphire Brooch, Soldier’s Bracer, Ancient Monocle, King’s Face, and Seal of the Forsaken
Crystal Core
Crystal Core now drops on Warping Core and Creeping Core (including Gold variant)
gold variant is a 10% drop chance
Increases Jump Height and Cate Rate
All Crystal Core variants are now sellable
Regular variant: Tower Damage main stat; rolls Tower Damage (1.0), Tower Health (1.0), Hero Ability (1.5)
Fused variant: rolls Tower Health (1.0), Tower Damage (1.0), Hero Ability (1.5); no main stat
Gold variant: rolls Tower Health (1.0), Tower Damage (1.5), Hero Ability (1.5); no main stat
RUNE UPDATES
Yuletide Village Campaign now properly drops its rune collection
King’s Game Campaign now properly drops its rune collection
Nightmare rune quality now drops lower-level runes more frequently
Quick note: progress was made tracking down the “rune crash” from enemy rune drops, but it still needs more time to fully dial in
CLOSING
That’s the full package that came out of PTR testing and refinement. Tower defenses and hero abilities should feel more consistent, Pure Strategy and Challenge Mode rewards and scaling should finally line up the way they’re supposed to, Rift behavior is clearer and less punishing in the wrong places, and builder gear should feel a lot more exciting to earn and use. Thank you again for showing up, speaking up, and helping us improve the game step by step. We genuinely wouldn’t be here without you. If you want to stay involved, come hang out with us in the official Discord (best place for feedback and build talk), and if you’d like to support the game’s continued development, please consider checking out our cosmetic DLC on Steam.
Until Next Time,
The Community Development Team