Greetings Defenders,

This update brings gear fixes, improvements to game modes, transmog corrections, balance changes to defenses and pets, and a new Map of the Week.

Gear Updates

• Fixed an issue where Tower-stated Miner Gloves were rolling with hero stats

  • They now correctly roll with tower stats

• Removed Pick Up Mana passives from:

  • Armor

  • Fused Accessories

  • Melee weapon pools

Game Mode Updates

Pure Strategy

• Massacre loot quality increased to match Mixed Mode

  • This places Pure Strategy loot at roughly 11% higher than Survival

• Pure Strategy now only drops Tower-stated gear from both chests and enemies

  • Follows the same philosophy as hero-stated gear in Mixed Mode

Survival

• Survival now drops both Hero-stated and Tower-stated gear from chests and enemies starting at Insane difficulty

Note:

• Tower pets are not yet included in Survival

• They will be added next patch, alongside golden variants

Crystal Core Transmogs

• What is Juice Core is now properly awarded from completing Alchemical Laboratory on Massacre Campaign

• Donkey Core is now awarded from completing Throne Room on Massacre Campaign

  • Requires all other Act 2 maps completed

• Donkey in a Jar Core is now awarded from completing The Keep on Massacre Campaign

  • Requires all other Act 2 maps completed

• Rubber Duck in a Jar Core is now awarded from completing Forsaken Temple on Massacre Campaign

  • Requires all other Act 5 maps completed

Defense Updates

Flameburst Tower

• Without rune:

  • Now fires 2 fireballs, both dealing AoE damage

• With rune:

  • Fires 1 focused projectile with no AoE damage

Rune Updates

Sniper Cannon Rune

• Projectiles now properly pierce enemies

• Pierce count increased from 2 → 5 enemies per shots

Weapon Updates

The Harold

• Projectile lifespan increased to 2 seconds (up from 1)

Pet Updates

• Fused Hippogryph

  • Tooltip corrected to reflect actual functionality

• Genie’s Lamp

  • Fused version now properly deals fusion damage

  • All variants now have a 2.5 second cooldown

Note:
Previously, no cooldown allowed buffs/debuffs to cycle infinitely.
Now:

• Buffs last 10 seconds

• A new buff is applied every 2.5 seconds, allowing stacking before refresh

• Little Wizard

  • Projectiles now apply 15% armor break for 3 seconds

  • Projectile radius increased to 75 (up from 60)

Map of the Week

This week’s Map of the Week is Tornado Valley.

Campaign

• Completing the map awards double rune drops on both Nightmare and Massacre

Challenges

• Completing Skyward Offense on Insane or higher awards double rewards

Survival / Mixed Mode

(Rift Mode required)

Nightmare

•  Fused Ancient

• Fused Katana

• Little Wizard

Massacre

• Arcanist Boots

• Little Wizard

• Fused Obsidian Bow

Note:
A new Arcanist piece that fuses Defense 5 has been added to the Map of the Week Arcanist loot pool. This means that completing the Map of the Week can now award either the standard Arcanist piece or a variant with Arcane Alignment 5. Arcanist pieces with Arcane Alignment 5 do not contribute toward completing the Fused Primitive set.For example, this week completing the Map of the Week can award Arcanist Boots with either Arcane Alignment 4 or 5.

Pure Strategy

(Rift Mode required)

Nightmare

• Fused Astra Lune

• Tower Ancient Etherian

• Fused Ancient Armor

Massacre

• Fused Astra Lune

• Tower Ancient Etherian (both variants can drop)

• Fused Ancient Monocle

Closing

This update continues refining gear distribution across game modes, improving reward clarity, and addressing balance across towers, pets, and runes. We’re also continuing to expand the Map of the Week system with new rewards and incentives. More updates are on the way, including tower pets in Survival and additional content and bug fixes in upcoming patches. Thank you for playing Dungeon Defenders: Awakened. 

Happy Defending,

The Community Development Team

.