Dungeon Defenders II News

Ahoy Defenders!

Around the docks of Etheria there is talk of Patch 4.1 arriving later this week. Among these whispers are some predictions of what’s to come. Join us as we peer slightly into the future, it’s time to dive into Patch 4.1 preview!


This is something that we received a lot of feedback on and are working on in multiple phases. The first phase is coming in this patch, it allowed us to do calculations on changing the drop rates specifically. We are going to be increasing the drop rate of perfect Mods by MORE than double, while lowering the drop chance of lower quality Mods.

The second phase of this is a lot more complex, and we’re not ready to discuss it just quite yet. We know the current drop rate has an average time that players should see perfect mods, and for a lot of players they are at or below that average. However, there are players that are outliers on this system, taking a long time to see any perfect Mod and that doesn’t feel great. We are currently developing ways to try and curb this entirely.


Players have requested that we make it easier to understand where your Mod quality ranges on a scale of 1 to 10. Now there will be a number that reflects the quality nestled gently on top of the “Qualibean™.”


We’re continuously finding ways to make our game experience as smooth as possible. Stuck enemies and those that go off their intended path are no fun to deal with, and they certainly are a challenge for us to ensure they work correctly. There are changes coming with this patch aimed at drastically decreasing these types of behaviors. We’re going to keep a close eye on these changes to make sure they work correctly, and if there’s more work to be done we promise we’ll be hammering away it.


This was a feature added in with Isle of Dread that a lot of players have enjoyed. We ran into an initial technical challenge that did not allow this feature to work well on Lost Temple. Replay From Wave was released and since we set to work on getting it to work on Lost Temple. After testing it, we’re now able to get Replay From Wave to work on this map — including Omega Waves.


There’s of course a slew of bug fixes coming, expanded explanations to the above, and a couple other unannounced changes that will be in the patch notes.


There’s a lot of people playing Dungeon Defenders II, and a lot of them gather on our social hubs. When it comes to finding other players, figuring out how to conquer a specific challenge, or just wanting to get to know others in the community, or getting the latest DD2 news, you can’t go wrong with our social platforms:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Discord
• Twitch

We’re getting the finishing touches on this patch and cannot wait to share it with you all.

For Etheria!

The Dungeon Defenders II Team

Ahoy Defenders!

Dungeon Defenders II: The Isle of Dread Expansion is out now on ALL platforms! This expansion contains a treasure trove of features, changes, and improvements. Set sail for adventure on two new maps, strike down your foes to gain new weapons and Mods, take on new enemies, and so much more. Put on your best eye patch and get your parrot, let’s dive into some expansion notes!


We’re excited to be introducing not one, but two maps with this expansion. These maps are available as their own Adventure set, can be selected when playing Expeditions, can come up as you progress through Onslaught, and one is even a Chaos VII Incursion!

The Jacked Sparrow
The first map is set on The Jacked Sparrow, previously known as The Sparrow before the heroes of Etheria hijacked it in order to reach their destination. As you traverse this map, enemies attack from above and below the levels of the ship, requiring all hands on deck to keep the masts safe from destruction! There’s a ton of fun to be had aboard this ship, as you use cannons to blast your enemies away, catapults to fly across the map, and vantage points to take out enemies when they least expect it!

Plunderer's Paradise
After braving the rough seas, the heroes land on an island besieged by an army of the Old One trying to break into the island’s mountain. Among these enemies are new foes that have not been seen before, helping beef up the horde that is coming your way! Protect the island to prevent havoc breaking loose, but also explore to find secrets hidden throughout the map. Conquer the Incursion version of this map by striking down Captain Dreadbones to unlock a new Barbarian weapon to add to your arsenal!


There’s a slew of enemies that are now donning pirate attire, an absolute necessity when conquering on such vicious tides! Here are a few of the enemies you encounter on your journey.


These goblins upped their pirate fashion game, but they also recruited additional allies to take down heroes from afar.


Cannon Ogres have joined the ranks of foes you must face! They are a fearsome terror that can ruin your defenses and range, but are also deadly when you’re up close and personal.


A cursed orc pirate, Captain Dreadbones, is a new boss that you encounter in this expansion. You can fight him and his mighty crew in Plunderer’s Paradise on all game modes the map is available! Be careful, his cursed strength is nothing to underestimate.



The War Table is improved with this expansion, adding some wonderful visuals to the world of Etheria, and also providing some quality of life changes as requested by our glorious community! The World Map shows all the different places Defenders may explore through different game modes:

• Campaign: A new World Map that outlines where you’ve been, and where you’ll be going!
  
• Expeditions: Choose the region, map, and difficulty you want!
  
• Adventures: Four zones full of different Adventure story arcs are available to choose from!
  
• Onslaught: Hop right into your floor and get to climbing!
  
• Mastery: With a similar look to Expeditions, you can see your Mastery Star progression!
  
• Incursions: You can change difficulties to see each available Incursion!

Each game mode contains different formats for ease of use, but also provide an “Advanced View” session browser in each. The Session Browser allows quick visibility of all the games going on, allowing players to filter down to specific maps within specific difficulties of specific game modes. Very specific!

When navigating through the various world maps, there is also a new indicator that shows which maps are included in Daily and Weekly quests!



Interacting with players is getting some good attention with this expansion, with much more coming even after the expansion! Player Lists are now easier to navigate, selecting another Defender and choosing to inspect their shop or invite them to party among other options provided via a drop down menu.

The Player List menu has also received additional features. You can now see who’s in your party, who’s the party leader, any friends in the hub, and skip time inspecting every player by seeing who has items listed in their shop!

Receiving invites is also streamlined to not take over your screen and there’s a timer to avoid invite spam. Parties received attention as well, for instance, the leader is now consistent and gives control to choose when and where your crew go! We’re continuing to develop social interactions between players, and this is a giant first step towards making it an easier and more enjoyable experience.



This is something we are introducing to help Defenders overcome the challenges they are presented with and promoting experimentation as you progress. Sometimes you can get up to a certain point and you want to try a different strategy. That’s where Replay From Wave comes in!

Now when you fail a wave, the Performance Optimization System outlines what defenses fell or which ones may have been underperforming. You are able to evaluate what changes you need, make adjustments, and get back to overcoming the challenge before you.

This system is available in Adventures, Expeditions, Onslaught, AND Mastery (without losing stars). The only caveat to this is that Replay From Wave is not available on Lost Temple, as it’s meant to stand as a final gauntlet to overcome every five floors. We can’t wait to see how far this system let’s Defenders go!



It’s finally here — one map floors are now the standard in Onslaught! This change was due to a lot of great feedback many of you provided. There are a few things that needed to change when going towards the one map format:

• Difficulty Scaling: We shifted the focus of investing time into each floor to overcoming greater difficulties sooner. As a result the rewards previously earned in Onslaught at various floors (Floor 114 for instance) are scaled down to the same difficulty; Ancient Power reset minimum reset floor is lowered; and Omega Waves were added in as an extra challenge to provide a greater feeling of progression.
  
• Rewards: Since players are facing a greater challenge faster, we wanted rewards that reflected overcoming said challenges. Now every 10 floors, players receive an Prestigious Weapon, with a guarantee on their unique Mods to roll a five or higher!
  
• More Maps: You are now going to be exposed to every map (except boss maps) as you climb Onslaught. Every five maps runs a format of easy, medium, and hard maps, with the fifth map being The Lost Temple!
  
• More Schedules: There are even more enemy schedules that you'll encounter now!
  
• Omega Waves: This is a new sixth wave added to the end of The Lost Temple. It’s a small victory lap as you continue to climb, where you will be provided with Mini-Boss only waves and unique schedules!

Onslaught is something we want to continue to build upon. With the feedback you provide, we’re able to make sure that we keep putting out content you enjoy, and these Onslaught changes are a result of that. We can’t wait to see how high you climb, maybe even a Memes For Marcos 2.0 is in our future!



Onslaught and Ancient Power go together like pirates and the ocean, so of course we added more to this system! Ancient Powers themselves are more powerful than before and require less of a point investment to utilize their maximum potential. Now two players are able to reach the maximum strength provided by Ancient Power, previously something only four players were able to do.

There are also FOUR new powers to help bolster your battle against the horde of enemies coming your way. Protean Shift brought some order to the Critical Chance/Damage system, and as a result we are able to add the following Ancient Powers:

• Hero Critical Chance
  
• Hero Critical Damage
  
• Defense Critical Chance
  
• Defense Critical Damage

Ancient Power is also more accessible early on now. You are able to gain Ancient Power after completing Floor 30! You do not have to acquire Ancient Power here and can keep climbing gaining higher Minimum Ascension as you progress through floors. Previously you gained 3 Minimum Ascension for every floor you completed (with three map floors), but now you gain 12 Minimum Ascension for every floor with the one map system, and also gain 4 Talent Cap increases per floor as well!

As you gain more Ancient Power, your Minimum Ancient Power Floor increases as well. This system continues to climb until your Minimum Ancient Power Floor reaches Floor 50, requiring you to reach Floor 80 to acquire additional Ancient Power. You then have access to Floor 50 right away after acquiring Ancient Power, granted you’re equipped to take on those challenges!

One final change when acquiring Ancient Power: your pets no longer reset! This change may not be permanent as we’re investigating ways to improve pets, but for now, your pets are untouched by the Ancient Power System!


There’s one thing that pirates are always on the hunt for — TREASURE! There are multiple ways to acquire the new items coming.

Professor Proteus’s Seaworthy Weapons
Professor Proteus now has a new cache of weapons available for Defenders taking on the high seas. Using these weapons provide unique death animations that are fitting for the battles that await you! Turn your enemies into a boat, and watch them sink into a whirlpool, or drop your enemies and make them flop like a fish.

There are multiple animations these weapons provide, and they are available on all weapons! The variety of animations are on a rotation daily, so be sure to check back regularly to see if the one you want is available.

Pirate Map Seaworthy Weapons
We’re trying something new by allowing Defenders to get these new weapons by completing the new maps! These weapons do not have the unique death animations, but instead come with all new Mods. These Mods are not weapon or hero specific, though some of them are bound to being melee or ranged only. They aren’t like Mods that are currently in the game, some take your movement speed into account; another has a chance to poison, drench, or oil your enemies; and another can even prevent Dark Assassins from stunning you!

There are ten to discover, and they can only be acquired through completing The Jacked Sparrow, Plunderer’s Paradise, or through Player Shops

Depending on where you acquire these weapons, you are also met with new pirate themed Mods that pack quite a punch that can be transferred to any weapon; or unique death animations that can sink your enemies (literally, one can turn them into a boat and sink into the ground)!


What good expansion doesn’t contain some new features? We’re introducing new features to help Defenders as they keep Dragonfall and Etheria safe.

Primary Stat Reroll
Primary Stat reroll system that we’re experimenting with. This system allows you to acquire reroll materials from completing the Jacked Sparrow and Plunderer’s Paradise, and reroll your primary stat into a potentially higher number. This change is not enforced if the roll is lower, you are always given a choice to accept it or decline! The new reroll materials are also able to be traded.We’re looking for feedback on this system and if you all enjoy it, we’ll investigate greatly expanding it.

Player Shop Changes
There are a some changes coming with Player Shops to make them more enticing to a larger amount of Defenders:

Use any piece of gear you purchase! Previously players were limited to buying a piece of gear that was only available to their level. This meant players having gold to purchase cool Mods, but not having the gear score to do so. Now when you purchase a piece of gear, the gear is scaled down to your Champion Score. After purchasing an item, and it scaling, you are still able to sell it on your shop. Even more Defenders can now participate in buying and selling!

Gem Mine
We’ve introduced a new way for Defenders to get a sweet deal on gems. The Gem Mine can be purchased from the platform stores, providing 100 gems everyday that you login for 30 consecutive days. That’s a total of 3000 gems for a lot less!


Protean Shift brought a lot of new ways to play and a ton of power to Defenders, which we really love! As a result, there are a slew of things that are either not as strong as we’d like or too strong, removing any challenge while playing. We’ve discussed a couple of these, let’s get into it:

Abyss Lord

• Towers
  
  • Colossus
    
    • Range increased to 800 from 600 (33% increase!)
      
    • Skeletal Archers
      
      • Damage scaling increased to 15 from 11.5 (30+% increase!)
        
      • Ramsters
        
        • Direct Command range increased to 5000 from 4000 (25% increase!)

Dryad

• Towers
  
  • Harpy’s Perch
    
    • Damage scaling increased to 5.175 from 4.5 (15% increase!)
      
    • Hornet’s Nest
      
      • Hornets from any nest can attack any enemy. Previously only one hornet per nest could attack the same enemy.
        
        Up to three hornets can attack the same enemy, regardless of where the hornet spawns.

EV2

• Towers
  
  • Weapon Manufacturer
    
    • Minimum range added to node placement similar to Auras. This change bring this tower in-line to similar towers, while still keeping it unique.

Huntress

• Towers
  
  • Explosive Trap
    
    • Damage scaling increased to 6.6 from 5.5 (20% increase!)
      
    • Range scaling increased to 0.0575 from 0.05 (15% increase!)
      
    • Range Max increased to 1150 from 1000 (15% increase!)
      
    • Base Range increased to 6900 from 6000 (15% increase!)
      
    • Trigger Radius increase to 400 from 200 (100% increase!)

Lavamancer

• Towers
  
  • Volcano
    
    • Damage scaling increased to 9.31 from 7 (33% increase!)

Mystic

• Towers
  
  • Sand Viper
    
    • Damage scaling increased to 6.875 from 5.5 (25% increase!)

Squire

• Towers
  
  • Ballista
    
    • Damage scaling increased to 21.27 from 18 (18+% increase!)

• Tower Mods
  
  • Unique Defense Crit Chance Servo
    
    • Increased max Crit Chance to 30% from 25% (5% increase!)
  • Unique Defense Crit Damage Servo
    
    • Increased max Crit Damage to 40% from 35% (5% increase!)
  • Boom Mods
    
    • We’ve changed how boom mods work. Previously they were a flat percentage that allowed them to scale infinitely, making them a must for climbing later floors.
      
      They’ve been retooled to do damage based on the enemies they explode up to a cap. The number shown is an average of what that damage is based on the different kinds of enemies within that group. For example, a melee-splosion does less damage when exploding a small goblin than it does when exploding a berserker orc.

• Chaos VIII Amps and High Onslaught Mods
  
  • Modified Mark’s Thoughts:
    These now start dropping at floor 35. Their drop chance increases every two floors you complete up to a cap on Floor 83 for Amps and Floor 92 for Mods.

• All C8 shards have been disabled. We may revisit them sometime in the future, but to provide an equal battlefield for all Defenders, we’ve disabled C8 shards for now.
  
• We made some pathing adjustments, fixes to spawners, and adjustment to enemies that should improve their pathing across several maps. Looking at you Northwest flier lane in Lost Temple!
  
• Fixed a bug where the Betsy Staff could cause enemies to, more or less, one shot anything in their path.
  
• Fixed an issue with Betsy’s Curse shard allowing enemies to one shot anything in their path.
  
• Fixed spelling errors on Unique Crit Chance Servo, Unique Crit Damage Servo, Defense Crit Chance Servo, and Defense Crit Damage Servo.
  
• Removed some tutorial text that was hanging out in Gates of Dragonfall - Hard.
  
• Fixed a rare issue where when an item is upgraded to 10/10 Chaos 7 the ipwr could go to 0.
  
• Fixed an issue where Consecutive Win Bonus XP was being multiplied by Ancient Power an additional time.
  
• EV-2 no longer infinitely lazers the Bastille Master in her incursion.
  
• Fixed several cases where the Bastille Master could get stuck.
  
• Fixed an issue where players could get into a state where they were unable to evolve pets.
  
• Fixed a case where split-screen users could have the Player Shops overlapping the Ancient Power UI.
  
• Player Shops - "Your inventory is full" notification now shows on other players shops when your inventory is full
  
• Piercing Towers now pierce Vanguards.
  
• Protective Downgrade Servo and Last Stand Chip now have a vfx to show when the effect triggers.

A lot of you submit bug reports constantly, and we make sure to squash as many of them as we can. As with any expansion, there are a lot of fixes coming your way. Please continue to submit them to our bug site, your help is invaluable to knocking out some of the pesky issues that appear.

• If beyond the first three tutorial maps, hitting Play Now on the main menu sends you to town.
  
• Traps are not respawning correctly when using Replay From Wave.
  
• Temporary fix in for rare instances where upgrading gear to 10/10 would greatly lower it’s stats. For these rare instances, instead of greatly lowering, stats are now slightly raised. This is a catch for if this error occurs, not a change applied to all gear.
  
• Tower-like abilities (Talisman of Empowerment, Abyss Stone, etc.) are running into a few issues that we’re aware of.
  
• The Champion Score filter is currently not functioning correctly.
  
• Player 2 in splitscreen is able to be kicked from party when in a party with a leader that isn't part of the splitscreen
  
• When the first player in split screen mode spends or receives currency the pop up appears on both screens.
  
• When placing defenses on the bottom floor of The Jacked Sparrow there is a chance to have it go to the top layer

There’s a lot of people playing Dungeon Defenders II, and a lot of them gather on our social hubs. When it comes to finding other players, figuring out how to conquer a specific challenge, or just wanting to get to know others in the community, or getting the latest DD2 news, you can’t go wrong with our social platforms:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Discord
• Twitch

The entire team has had a blast making this content, we cannot wait for all of you to get your hands on this expansion. Get to setting sail!

For Etheria!

The Dungeon Defenders II Team

Greetings Defenders,

We're excited to finally be announcing the release date for Dungeon Defenders II: The Isle of Dread Update! Originally it was going to be announced during our Dev Stream, but when have pirates ever followed the rules?!

The Isle of Dread Update is releasing on Wednesday, September 26th — THAT'S NEXT WEEK!

Dev Stream 85 is happening tomorrow, September 21st at 3PM EDT, is going to show off more of what's to come. We cannot wait for you to get this update into your hands and hooks!

Click here to check out a lot of the changes and features coming!

For Etheria!

The Dungeon Defenders II Team

Greetings Defenders,

This be the second Dev Log for the next update in Dungeon Defenders II! As we promised ye scallywags last Dev Log we’ll be talking about even more treasure and booty coming. Ancient Power changes, War Table improvements, and a lot more await ye in Dev Log 101!


This Dev Log is still just the tip of the iceberg for what’s coming. You all have been anticipating Ancient Power changes, and we’ve got them! A lot of feedback that we’ve received on this system (just like with Onslaught) was used to help mold it into what’s coming your way. On top of this, the War Table changes (session browser anyone?), and maps are a lot to cover. This update is ARRRRRRRRRbsolutely insane, to quote a certain Jose, “hype levels are through the roof, unsustainable!”

I’ll let others dive into what’s coming. I will say that we are going to have our FIRST Dev Stream for this update next week, September 14th, at 3 PM EDT. We’ll be showing off some stuff from Dev Log 99, 100, and 101! Who knows, we might even be giving away one of our new flairs during our Dev Streams. ;)


Hey-o everyone!

What’s promised is owed, so here are some of the new changes to Ancient Power available to you in our next update. We have heard your feedback, and hopefully these changes will make you more excited to engage with this system.

Ancient Powers
Here's a list of the changes regarding Ancient Powers specifically:

1. We have doubled the strength of each Ancient Power. To note, since you can add each AP level together when in a party to make the buffs stronger, now we will only add up to 10 levels per Power. This means you get twice the strength when playing solo, and up to the same amount when playing with others, but this limit is reached much easier now.
   
2. We have introduced four new Powers: Defense Crit Damage, Defense Crit Chance, Hero Crit Chance, and Hero Crit Damage.
   
3. The amount of power you gain per level has been redistributed so the first levels of each power will award you with a greater gain than the last ones.

Prestigious Weapons
Like mentioned in the previous Log, you can now get one Prestigious Weapon every 10 floors, (20 after floor 100), at a guaranteed quality 5/10. The opportunity to earn this is reset when going through Ancient Power, so you will get the chance to earn them again.

Ancient Power Progression
Faster base ascension, and talent cap raises. Since now the progression of Onslaught will be tougher, and faster, we have increased your base gains to match this increase.

Pets
Pets no longer get reset when going through AP ;).

Starting Floor
The final one is the biggest one yet: Every time you go through Ancient Power, you will unlock a higher floor in Onslaught that you can immediately start at. Your ‘Base Floor’ will raise by various amounts, but eventually you will be able to start right away beyond the C7 Floors when triggering AP.

Of course, this wouldn’t be possible without raising the floor you need to reach to trigger AP again, so whenever we raise your ‘Base Floor’, your ‘Target Floor’ will also be raised. There is a limit to how much both can be raised, but you will need to watch today’s hot Trendy Fun Stream w/ Lawlta and Jose and ask me live.

That’s it for me at the moment. Hopefully next time I will be allowed to talk to you about the new hot Pirate Mods that we have been working on.

Love,
Jose


What's up Everyone?

We’ve received a ton of feedback regarding our War Table and the flow of how players get into games. Changes for the war table were two fold. First we focused on the flow of how players get into games with other players, where things were easily understood and executed, and also where they were not. Our second focus was on allowing people to know all of the options available in the game. As you progress in Dungeon Defenders II, a lot of doors open up, and we want to make sure Defenders can know where they can do, and what they can do.

War Table UI



Enter our new overworld view on the War Table, introducing a new interface for selecting what and where you play. The way we worked through this was by setting goals we wanted to accomplish in regards to getting into a game, and then finding ways to attain those goals:

1. Change how the world is presented to players
   
   • Adding a World Map that looks amazing and has distinct landmarks, helping immerse players into what they were defending.
2. Change how players are able to get into games
   
   • Adding Play Now getting players right into the game with other people who are doing the same thing. This requires less time going through menus, and gets you into the action of an appropriate level.
     
   • Allowing players to filter for any combination (even content that is locked) and see those open games as well!
3. Increase the amount of information given to players BEFORE they get into games.
   
   • Giving more space to give information about difficulty, game modes, chaos enemies, and maps.
     
   • Having information about rewards and what can be gained by completing the map.
   
   
   

Session Browser

And last, but certainly not least, a Session Browser that allows players to see everything playable in one location. This allows players to see EVERYTHING, even locked content that they haven’t unlocked through progression! By doing all of these changes, along with improving how the party and player interaction systems handle, it is going to be a lot more intuitive to get into games and have fun playing with friends and the community at a large!



Hey All,

We heard you were kind of excited about there being new maps in the game. We weren't sure, so we decided to not make any. PSYCHE! This time around we brought two maps for all of you to conquer. Hopefully you brought some dimenhydrinate, you won't want to get seasick.



Our first map we're showing has you fighting on the high seas. This map is unlike anything you’ve seen in Dungeon Defenders II to date! You’re on a stolen ship with enemies coming at you from every direction. To really put the pressure of the high seas on Defenders we needed to add threats from above AND below!

The verticality involved in this map will have you flying all over the place with the help of the catapults added (at least 6)! There’s some cool tricks for players to discover, we can’t wait to see what you come up with.




Our next map we're showing is the fruits of your sailing adventure. They say it’s all about the journey, not the destination. Well that can go kick rocks, because the destination is just as awesome as the journey! This map is all over the place, has some awesome new enemies, and some hidden secrets (one that we’re really excited to see being found).

There’s a lot to be done here, both on land and on ships. Even failing this map is pretty insane. You’ll be seeing this map in multiple game modes, it might even be the incursion *wink* *wink*.


We're also looking to expand our tester pool once again. Our testers get the chance to try out our still-in development work, in exchange for some cool stuff as a thanks. They help us with balance, feedback and bugs and their contributions to our releases are very valuable.

We have two teams, RQA - our daily bug hunters (for folks with lots of free time each day), and RPG - our larger team for balance and feedback (for folks with limited free time).

Testing comes with two different Tester-exclusive rewards:

Betsy White

Parrot Wings flair

If you are interested, drop me an email at dani.moore trendyent (dot) com and ask. I'm happy to provide more information on both teams to see what best suits. A big thanks to everyone involved in the Update and the heaps of work and sweat that went into it all.


In these two Dev Logs, we’ve covered a lot of changes that are coming, and there’s still a lot more to show off. Because of this, we’ll be doing multiple Dev Streams to showcase things you’ve seen in both of these Dev Logs, and maybe some extra bonuses.

Our first Dev Stream will be September 14th, at 3 PM EDT. Be sure to come join us, check out all the pirate-y goodness, system changes, and hard work poured into this update. Oh, also, you know, maybe win some prizes coming with this update!

To get reliable updates on what’s to come, be sure to check out our social platforms for the latest juiciest beans to be spilled:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Discord
• Twitch

The entire team has had a blast making this content, we cannot wait for all of you to get your hands on our next update. Stay tuned for more info soon!

For Etheria!

The Dungeon Defenders II Team

Ahoy there, DefendARRRRs!

In this Dev Log, we be talking about some changes to Onslaught and Party Controls that ye’ve been requestin, and we’re here to deliver. These changes are meant to improve the game mode, allowing many of you to set sail on adventure without having to sink a ton of time into each play session if ye’re not able to. Also greater control over who’s in ye’r ranks and leadin’ ye’r crew, alongside making it easier to interact between one another. Let’s dive in!



First off, Dev Log 100, wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut! There’s a lot still to talk about, but being our 100th Dev Log, I thought it would be best that we talk about and confirm changes to a system many of you have requested. Onslaught is getting a round of polish with extra elbow grease to become more accessible for players and also bring some additional difficulty. The party improvements are also something that many of you gave a ton of great feedback on, so these changes should make being in a party not only feel a lot better, but also be easier to get into.

There’s a ton more coming that we cannot wait to share with you! We’ve been hard at work creating new maps for you to defend, new enemies to take on, new weapons to strengthen your arsenal, and so much more. To quote a Jose you may or may not know, it’s “coming sooner than you think”. Unless you think it’s tomorrow and a little bit of time after tomorrow, then that quote doesn’t apply here.

X Marks The Heart,
Lawlta



Ahoy Defenders!

I’m here to talk improvements to the party system and a few things that are to come.

1. Seamless Invite System - Party invites in the live game are jarring. When you receive one, it stops you dead, it removes all movement control from your character, and the popup covers the majority of your screen. The only way to make the popup go away is to accept or decline the invitation to the party. With the new party system, these gameplay intrusions will be eliminated. Receiving an invite to a party will no longer stop you dead. Instead, you will receive an unobtrusive notification at the bottom of your screen informing you who invited you to the party with the option to accept or decline the offer. You will fully retain control of movement while this invite is pending, and your view of Etheria will not be occluded.
   
   
2. Vicinity Targeting - The way you initiate any social interaction in DD2 is by opening the player list, selecting the name of the person you wish to interact with, and then selecting how you’d like to interact with them. This is a good system if you already know the name of the person you wish to interact with, but it is not the best facilitator of organic interactions with people you serendipitously meet. For instance, let’s say you see someone run by with a sweet sweet costume, and decide that you want to make that person a part of your stylish crew. You’re standing right next to this player, but you can’t invite them to a party directly; you’ll to figure out their name, open the player list menu, find them, and then send them an invite. To make it easier and more organic to interact with others, we will be introducing vicinity targeting. What does it mean? It means that you can walk right up to someone and interact with them directly. You won’t have to open full-screen menus to invite people a party, kick people from a party, promote them to party leader (more on that), or view their shops. You will remain fully engrossed in the world of Etheria while you perform these interactions via vicinity targeting; you will retain full degree of movement control.
   
   
3. Player List User Experience - If you prefer the classic way of interacting with others then you’re still in luck! The player list has been refined to give a far smoother experience when interacting with others.
   
   
4. A Party Structure That Makes Sense - As I’m sure you all have noticed, some funkiness can happen with parties in the live game which really upsets expectations. One of my biggest annoyances with the current system is having the party leader change randomly when you load into a new map. Frustrating! It's time to bring some order to the party chaos that can happen in the live game, and we plan to do this by implementing the following:
   
   
   • The person who sends the first invitation to party up becomes the party leader.
     
   • The party leader REMAINS the leader until they either leave the party or they choose to promote someone.
     
   • The party leader will be able to promote other members to their position if they no longer wish to lead.
     
   • All party members can invite someone to join a party, but only the party leader can kick from a party.
     
   • Only the party leader can choose where players matchmake to.

There are more changes coming too. Stay tuned!

Thinking of you,
Mark



Hey everyone,

We have heard your voice loud and clear, and we are making several improvements to Onslaught. Sit tight and get ready.

1. Floors will have only 1 map each. This was by far the largest concern that you had with the game mode. It took too long to complete a map, and a single failure led to having to play the entire floor again. Worry no longer, in the update a single victory is required to move forward.
   
2. Moar maps. Currently, the selection of maps in late game Onslaught is quite large, but not complete. With the newest changes we are introducing, all the maps will be available at all points in the Onslaught progression, late and early ;).
   
3. Faster progression. The difficulty increases were happening only little by little in each floor, which made the process of playing through Onslaught much slower than in Expeditions. Not anymore; now the jumps in difficulty (and rewards) happen much faster, and the number of floors that will take you to Chaos 7 strength have been reduced. This increased in difficulty per floor has also been carried to beyond the Chaos 7 floors, so reaching floor 999 will be an greater challenge than before.
   
4. More and better Prestigious weapons. Lawlta told me I can’t talk about AP yet, but I will try to spill this small bean here, as it’s related to the Onslaught climb. In addition to receiving a Prestigious Weapon when you trigger Ancient Power, now you will receive one every 10 floors when playing Onslaught (every 20 after floor 100). In addition, all new Prestigious Weapons will come at least at quality 5/10, and will have an increased chance of spawning at higher quality as well. These awards will also reset when you go through Ancient Power, giving you a chance of more weapons.
   
5. New post C7 difficulty schedules. Starting around the end of the chaos 7 floors, we will now start introducing new schedules of enemies at increased difficulty. To note, these schedules will not contain new enemies, but the same ones you are familiar at an increased difficulty and numbers.
   
6. Omega Waves. Last stream I promised Omega Waves in Onslaught, and people did not believe my words. Now, I can actually confirm Omega Waves may or may not, in fact, be coming to Onslaught.

You are probably wondering: what’s going to happen with my progression? Well the answer is very simple. When making the transition between the old to the new, we will check what floor you were playing previously, and set you at a floor with the closest difficulty to it under the new system.

For example, if Gobu was playing at Floor 80, now they will be placed around floor 35, since both are comparable in difficulty. This will also be true to the rewards tied to specific floor numbers, like 114, so while the climb to get there will be shortened, the difficulty of those maps will remain consistent.

One final feature that I’m happy to introduce is a new Replay system. Currently, when failing a map you have to start all over again, regardless of game mode or difficulty. Now, if you fail a map the game will allow you to go back to the wave where you failed, and retry from there with the defenses you had already placed in the map.

Having to build the whole map again after failing was something we always wanted to address, and now you can just simply adjust whatever defense cause you to lose and keep moving forward =).

That’s not all! The Replay feature will also be supported by a new Performance Optimization System. When loading the map again after trigger the replay, we will place several indicators on the towers that caused you to lose. All towers destroyed will have a handy Danger Indicator (!) to show that they fell. For towers that didn’t do much in combat, a Warning Indicator (?)will get your attention to reevaluate their placement, or equip better relics on them.

That’s it for now. Next time I will tell you more details about the changes to AP, which there are many. But let me tell you about these new Pirate MODS, they are great, they are awesome, and they are also great. The first one, currently named Set Sail, which turns you into a █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ , and then you can █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ , which allows you to █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ . The second one █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ .

Oof… I'm excited for these new Mods. Be sure to tune in for next Friday’s stream, where I may or may not answer your questions in the most ambiguous fashion possible.

Love you,
Jose



Hi.

Cordially Yours,
Ice


We're also looking to expand our tester pool once again. Our testers get the chance to try out our still-in development work, in exchange for some cool stuff as a thanks. They help us with balance, feedback and bugs and their contributions to our releases are very valuable.

We have two teams, RQA - our daily bug hunters (for folks with lots of free time each day), and RPG - our larger team for balance and feedback (for folks with limited free time).

If you are interested, drop me an email at dani.moore trendyent (dot) com and ask. I'm happy to provide more information on both teams to see what best suits. A big thanks to everyone involved in the Update and the heaps of work and sweat that went into it all.


Nothing, that’s it, no more news. No need to keep reading. Except wait, there’s a ton more coming that we’ll be talking about in our next Dev Log! This update is crazy big, bringing in some salty content for you landlubbers. Here’s what you can expect to see:

• AP improvements
  
• New Maps!
  
• New Enemies!
  
• New Weapons!
  
• New Mods!
  
• New Incursion!
  
• New Flair!
  
• More New Stuff!

We’re always listening to your feedback, and a lot of you do a great job of making sure it’s constructive and provide plenty of great ideas. Keep it up, we love reading it and it helps us mold Dungeon Defenders II into a better game.

To get reliable updates on what’s to come, be sure to check out our social platforms for the latest juiciest beans to be spilled:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Discord
• Twitch

The entire team has had a blast making this content, we cannot wait for all of you to get your hands on our next update. Stay tuned for more info soon!

For Etheria!

The Dungeon Defenders II Team