A word from Acen and the Community Development Team:
"Greetings Defenders,
While things didn't go according to our original schedule, we are still moving forward and closing out the last items to get the beta ready for you. So today the CDT would like to present this teaser video for your viewing pleasure as we continue to work to get the beta out to you. We hope you will enjoy the new content and improvements and will keep you informed when the beta is ready for you to test.
A word from Acen and the Community Development Team:
"Greetings Defenders,
While things didn't go according to our original schedule, we are still moving forward and closing out the last items to get the beta ready for you. So today the CDT would like to present this teaser video for your viewing pleasure as we continue to work to get the beta out to you. We hope you will enjoy the new content and improvements and will keep you informed when the beta is ready for you to test.
Greetings from the Community Development Team, Defenders! We are now into February of the new year and we continue to press on with the task of providing you new content and changes to enjoy as you defend Etheria. We have a couple of things we would like to share with you today to get you ready for what is coming.
When is the next update?
First up is the question that many are asking and direct at us quite frequently. Our usual response is "soon" since it is hard to get exact dates in place for various reasons. However we would like to let you know that we are targeting mid February to release the public beta.
What is in CDT Update 2?
As many may know by now, we are bringing Embermount Volcano over from DDE. Along with the new map comes a new tavern theme, new enemy, new weapons, accessories and pets. Here comes one of the pets trotting in now.
There are also plenty of QoL fixes and some rebalancing of a few towers that have needed it.
How can I help?
Help us test! This update is packed full of content and changes that need to be checked by you, the community. We would love to think that the release will be perfect, but we know bugs happen. So please give it a good run through when it is released and report any issues back to us.
Dev Help Needed!
We are in need of a visual effects artist. While the team is great at many things, this is one area where we could use some help. If there is someone in the community who is willing to share their talents in creating visual effects with Unreal Cascade, we would be grateful to have you on the team. The community would be grateful too.
New Community Event: Depths and Bubbles Event
There is a new event planned for Feb 12th - 14th. Please check out the details in the Depths and Bubbles thread.
More to Come
There is definitely much more come. Be on the lookout for futher news and opportunites for you to vote and share your opinions about what you think will make Etheria even better. We are already planning Update 3 for you so please keep the ideas flowing and submitting them to us.
I will leave you now with a couple of screenshots from the upcoming Update 2 for you to enjoy and see what is coming your way.
Happy Defending!!!
- Community Development Team
The Community Development Team is a group of volunteer community members dedicated to adding new content, adjusting balance and fixing bugs in the Ranked version of the game. If you'd like to help out, head to the Community Development forum!
Greetings from the Community Development Team, Defenders! We are now into February of the new year and we continue to press on with the task of providing you new content and changes to enjoy as you defend Etheria. We have a couple of things we would like to share with you today to get you ready for what is coming.
When is the next update?
First up is the question that many are asking and direct at us quite frequently. Our usual response is "soon" since it is hard to get exact dates in place for various reasons. However we would like to let you know that we are targeting mid February to release the public beta.
What is in CDT Update 2?
As many may know by now, we are bringing Embermount Volcano over from DDE. Along with the new map comes a new tavern theme, new enemy, new weapons, accessories and pets. Here comes one of the pets trotting in now.
There are also plenty of QoL fixes and some rebalancing of a few towers that have needed it.
How can I help?
Help us test! This update is packed full of content and changes that need to be checked by you, the community. We would love to think that the release will be perfect, but we know bugs happen. So please give it a good run through when it is released and report any issues back to us.
Dev Help Needed!
We are in need of a visual effects artist. While the team is great at many things, this is one area where we could use some help. If there is someone in the community who is willing to share their talents in creating visual effects with Unreal Cascade, we would be grateful to have you on the team. The community would be grateful too.
New Community Event: Depths and Bubbles Event
There is a new event planned for Feb 12th - 14th. Please check out the details in the Depths and Bubbles thread.
More to Come
There is definitely much more come. Be on the lookout for futher news and opportunites for you to vote and share your opinions about what you think will make Etheria even better. We are already planning Update 3 for you so please keep the ideas flowing and submitting them to us.
I will leave you now with a couple of screenshots from the upcoming Update 2 for you to enjoy and see what is coming your way.
Happy Defending!!!
- Community Development Team
The Community Development Team is a group of volunteer community members dedicated to adding new content, adjusting balance and fixing bugs in the Ranked version of the game. If you'd like to help out, head to the Community Development forum!
The first community-driven update for Dungeon Defenders is here! This update was created by the Community Development Team, a passionate group of volunteer Defenders who have been given the tools to change the Ranked version of the game. This update includes new content, major improvements and much-requested bug fixes for the game. (Note: This update is for Windows. We're still looking into providing the new updates for Mac/Linux. We'll have more news soon.) If you have any ideas on what you’d like to see in the game, check out the Community Development forum!
There's also a new DD1 Event! For more information, check out the event's forum thread.
On a side note, The Trendy Team is hard at work on next week’s Dungeon Defenders II update. We're also unlocking free galactic weapons for simply joining the Steam Group! DD2 Early Access is free-to-play now, so be sure to check it out if you’re interested.
Thanks for your support, Defenders! By the way: We hear the CDT is already working on the next update...
CDT Update #1 Notes
New Content
Temporary Moonbase themed tavern
Buccaneers Bay Campaign Map (Including Survival)
Pirate Invasion Challenge
Two new weapons
Two new pets
New accessory
Two new towers for the Jester (details in the next section)
Improvements
All boss cutscenes are now skippable
The trading UI supports adding 48 items to trade using the “Add to Trade” button
Projectile towers now accurately report the period between attacks (previously the firing animation time was not included)
Added a thousands separator (,) to all numbers using high value formatting when between 1,000 and 1 M
Tavern Dummy report text moved above hit damage text to allow for easier viewing
Tavern Dummy averaging period increased from 2 to 4 seconds to improve consistency
Tavern Dummy now reports the total damage dealt as well as the DPS
If Nightmare difficulty is selected in the tavern, all towers, heroes and pets will deal the damage they would in the map. Any towers or heroes spawning while Nightmare is selected will use Nightmare levels of all other stats but will not update when switching between difficulties.
Mana token and player shop max price increased to 2B
EV builders can now move while placing the child node of a beam. The player must be within casting range of either node to begin construction Imp and Tower boost repair traps and beams the same way they do other towers
Traps and beams now use identical repair logic to other towers and will not allow repair focus for only a single charge during combat (can be repaired during combat from 95% health)
Tavern shop can now sell items with prices sensible for their quality (tavern shop quality consistency to be improved later)
Greater Turkey Hunt wave 9 time limit increased by 30 seconds
Item Value is reported using the high value formatting (eg. 2.1204 M) to improve readability. This is applied to the item box, player and tavern shops, item tooltip, and item inspect panels
Tower Wars and Moonbase now have level previews in game setup
Hit damage text is of a constant size. Size is about half of the previous maximum
Hit damage text is placed relative to the target, not the hit location
Jester present boxes have new defenses and adjusted spawn chances (Lower chance of item/ogre/mana spawns, and the spawn chances are now different for each type of present
Jester present box unlock levels increased to make room for the new Defenses
New Defenses added to the Jester
Jack-in-the-Box (Level 1, 3 DU, 40 mana): A Defense with a fairly short-range, forward-facing punching glove. It has high health and a slow attack rate, but makes up for this with high damage and knock-back capability, with a 20% chance to knock back enemies normally immune to knockback effects, such as Ogres.
Party Popper (Level 3, 4 DU, 50 mana): A standard, mid-range projectile defense which shoots a wide range of projectiles with different attributes at random: Magic Missile (generic), Archer Minion arrow (generic), Fireball (fire, small splash radius), Djinn magic bolts (Fire, Lightning, Poison and Purity- all piercing), Deadly Striker bolts (generic, passes through walls), and Ogre poison balls (poison, huge splash radius). Inspecting this tower will show the element and damage for the next shot to be fired.
(Note: Only new Jester heroes will have the new defenses set to their hotbars autmatically. We have not altered the hotkeys for existing Jesters, so you will need to manually add them by opening the radial menu with the middle mouse button, go to Summon Defenses, and then hold the desired number key down for one second with the cursor over the Defense you wish to assign to the bar)
Bug Fixes
Reload speed, charge speed, knockback, blocking, guardian and propeller cat boosting stat generation clamped within their allowable range (no more picking up a sword with 1000% Blocking Bonus only to find it turned into 30% in your item box)
Tavern Dummy is only hit once per tick by the Slice’N Dice and Lightning Towers to match all other targets
“Pro-Mode” and “Invest All” function as expected when the cost to upgrade exceeds 1B mana
The first community-driven update for Dungeon Defenders is here! This update was created by the Community Development Team, a passionate group of volunteer Defenders who have been given the tools to change the Ranked version of the game. This update includes new content, major improvements and much-requested bug fixes for the game. (Note: This update is for Windows. We're still looking into providing the new updates for Mac/Linux. We'll have more news soon.) If you have any ideas on what you’d like to see in the game, check out the Community Development forum!
There's also a new DD1 Event! For more information, check out the event's forum thread.
On a side note, The Trendy Team is hard at work on next week’s Dungeon Defenders II update. We're also unlocking free galactic weapons for simply joining the Steam Group! DD2 Early Access is free-to-play now, so be sure to check it out if you’re interested.
Thanks for your support, Defenders! By the way: We hear the CDT is already working on the next update...
CDT Update #1 Notes
New Content
Temporary Moonbase themed tavern
Buccaneers Bay Campaign Map (Including Survival)
Pirate Invasion Challenge
Two new weapons
Two new pets
New accessory
Two new towers for the Jester (details in the next section)
Improvements
All boss cutscenes are now skippable
The trading UI supports adding 48 items to trade using the “Add to Trade” button
Projectile towers now accurately report the period between attacks (previously the firing animation time was not included)
Added a thousands separator (,) to all numbers using high value formatting when between 1,000 and 1 M
Tavern Dummy report text moved above hit damage text to allow for easier viewing
Tavern Dummy averaging period increased from 2 to 4 seconds to improve consistency
Tavern Dummy now reports the total damage dealt as well as the DPS
If Nightmare difficulty is selected in the tavern, all towers, heroes and pets will deal the damage they would in the map. Any towers or heroes spawning while Nightmare is selected will use Nightmare levels of all other stats but will not update when switching between difficulties.
Mana token and player shop max price increased to 2B
EV builders can now move while placing the child node of a beam. The player must be within casting range of either node to begin construction Imp and Tower boost repair traps and beams the same way they do other towers
Traps and beams now use identical repair logic to other towers and will not allow repair focus for only a single charge during combat (can be repaired during combat from 95% health)
Tavern shop can now sell items with prices sensible for their quality (tavern shop quality consistency to be improved later)
Greater Turkey Hunt wave 9 time limit increased by 30 seconds
Item Value is reported using the high value formatting (eg. 2.1204 M) to improve readability. This is applied to the item box, player and tavern shops, item tooltip, and item inspect panels
Tower Wars and Moonbase now have level previews in game setup
Hit damage text is of a constant size. Size is about half of the previous maximum
Hit damage text is placed relative to the target, not the hit location
Jester present boxes have new defenses and adjusted spawn chances (Lower chance of item/ogre/mana spawns, and the spawn chances are now different for each type of present
Jester present box unlock levels increased to make room for the new Defenses
New Defenses added to the Jester
Jack-in-the-Box (Level 1, 3 DU, 40 mana): A Defense with a fairly short-range, forward-facing punching glove. It has high health and a slow attack rate, but makes up for this with high damage and knock-back capability, with a 20% chance to knock back enemies normally immune to knockback effects, such as Ogres.
Party Popper (Level 3, 4 DU, 50 mana): A standard, mid-range projectile defense which shoots a wide range of projectiles with different attributes at random: Magic Missile (generic), Archer Minion arrow (generic), Fireball (fire, small splash radius), Djinn magic bolts (Fire, Lightning, Poison and Purity- all piercing), Deadly Striker bolts (generic, passes through walls), and Ogre poison balls (poison, huge splash radius). Inspecting this tower will show the element and damage for the next shot to be fired.
(Note: Only new Jester heroes will have the new defenses set to their hotbars autmatically. We have not altered the hotkeys for existing Jesters, so you will need to manually add them by opening the radial menu with the middle mouse button, go to Summon Defenses, and then hold the desired number key down for one second with the cursor over the Defense you wish to assign to the bar)
Bug Fixes
Reload speed, charge speed, knockback, blocking, guardian and propeller cat boosting stat generation clamped within their allowable range (no more picking up a sword with 1000% Blocking Bonus only to find it turned into 30% in your item box)
Tavern Dummy is only hit once per tick by the Slice’N Dice and Lightning Towers to match all other targets
“Pro-Mode” and “Invest All” function as expected when the cost to upgrade exceeds 1B mana
CDT Update 1 testing continues! We've included some additional fixes, as well as made some changes based on your feedback (The genie has decided to grant your wishes and returned to his old self)! If you haven't checked it out previously, it's not too late! Simply right-click on Dungeon Defenders in Steam, click Properties, click the Betas tab, and select "community beta branch" from the list!
Here's the lowdown:
Jester
Jack-in-the-Box
You asked for it, you got it: Now has 20% chance to "crit", dealing slightly more damage and applying knockback to all enemies (including Ogres!), as well as affecting heavier enemies such as Orcs more strongly.
An errant muzzle flash left behind by the JITB's "projectile" has been told what to go do with itself.
Overall attack speed slowed through a combination of adjusting Tower Rate stat scaling and animation scaling. The animation should be visible for a much wider range of attack rate stats. We felt that this was important since there is no other visual indicator of the tower attacking.
Damage increased significantly to compensate for the slower attack rate. Now those punches really... pack a punch.
Range is no longer affected by buff beams or Monk Guardians. No more super sonic punches that extend several times the reach of the punching animation!
Base range slightly increased, range scaling slightly reduced; the Jack-in-the-Box should be able to bloody the noses of ogres attacking at their max range sooner. After all, they're Ogres, not Trolls.
Party Popper
The Party Popper has given up dancing, and will no longer "Do the Twist" while attacking.
Projectile ratios adjusted favor splashing/piercing projectiles slightly more for extra party fun:
Magic Missile and Archer Arrow ratio decreased very slightly (Deadly Striker Bolt unchanged)
Fire, Poison, Thunder, and Purity Djinn shot ratio increased very slightly
Ogre Snot Ball and Fireball increased very slightly
The pierce limit for Djinn shots has been increased by 50% (4 to 6). Magnum Bullets!
*Overall effect should be more area-of-effect damage, to address player feedback.
Maps
Fixed an invisible wall on Buccaneer Bay. You'll have to practice your miming skills elsewhere, sorry!
Fixed an edge case in Pirate Invasion where finishing a phase with only a few seconds left would cause the game to glitch out.
Gave aerial enemies in Buccaneer Bay a strategy lesson. They should now spawn in a much less erratic pattern.
Bugs / Issues Fixed
Say ARRRRrrrr: the Pirate Patch has been buffed up to Turkey Mask levels.
Shiver me Timbers: The Pirate Skeleton on a Treadmill is sporting a new icon and a colorization issue on the skeleton has been addressed.
The original Christmas map boss will now listen to you yelling at him to hurry up (or at least pressing the skip button) and thus his intro cutscene can now be skipped.
Shock beams now use standard healing logic, which is a really fancy way of saying pets and abilities can now repair them.
The Shock Beam was also told to stop using its cheat code, and no longer heals itself to full after every attack.
Bugs Added
Genies will once again grant you three wishes, as we have reverted him to his previous state. This may be revisited in the future when/if the bug can be fixed without causing undue burden to our hardcore fans.
Known Issues
Mac / Linux builds of Moonbase and later patches are still in progress. We hope that this will be able to be addressed at some point, but there is no guarantee.
The Pirate Patch reward is currently clamped to Insane.
The beta branch is defaulting to GameSpy (which no longer exists) as the Online Provider. To fix this, please go into the game's configure tool and change the Online Provider back to Steam in order to play online. Sorry for the inconvenience!
CDT Update 1 testing continues! We've included some additional fixes, as well as made some changes based on your feedback (The genie has decided to grant your wishes and returned to his old self)! If you haven't checked it out previously, it's not too late! Simply right-click on Dungeon Defenders in Steam, click Properties, click the Betas tab, and select "community beta branch" from the list!
Here's the lowdown:
Jester
Jack-in-the-Box
You asked for it, you got it: Now has 20% chance to "crit", dealing slightly more damage and applying knockback to all enemies (including Ogres!), as well as affecting heavier enemies such as Orcs more strongly.
An errant muzzle flash left behind by the JITB's "projectile" has been told what to go do with itself.
Overall attack speed slowed through a combination of adjusting Tower Rate stat scaling and animation scaling. The animation should be visible for a much wider range of attack rate stats. We felt that this was important since there is no other visual indicator of the tower attacking.
Damage increased significantly to compensate for the slower attack rate. Now those punches really... pack a punch.
Range is no longer affected by buff beams or Monk Guardians. No more super sonic punches that extend several times the reach of the punching animation!
Base range slightly increased, range scaling slightly reduced; the Jack-in-the-Box should be able to bloody the noses of ogres attacking at their max range sooner. After all, they're Ogres, not Trolls.
Party Popper
The Party Popper has given up dancing, and will no longer "Do the Twist" while attacking.
Projectile ratios adjusted favor splashing/piercing projectiles slightly more for extra party fun:
Magic Missile and Archer Arrow ratio decreased very slightly (Deadly Striker Bolt unchanged)
Fire, Poison, Thunder, and Purity Djinn shot ratio increased very slightly
Ogre Snot Ball and Fireball increased very slightly
The pierce limit for Djinn shots has been increased by 50% (4 to 6). Magnum Bullets!
*Overall effect should be more area-of-effect damage, to address player feedback.
Maps
Fixed an invisible wall on Buccaneer Bay. You'll have to practice your miming skills elsewhere, sorry!
Fixed an edge case in Pirate Invasion where finishing a phase with only a few seconds left would cause the game to glitch out.
Gave aerial enemies in Buccaneer Bay a strategy lesson. They should now spawn in a much less erratic pattern.
Bugs / Issues Fixed
Say ARRRRrrrr: the Pirate Patch has been buffed up to Turkey Mask levels.
Shiver me Timbers: The Pirate Skeleton on a Treadmill is sporting a new icon and a colorization issue on the skeleton has been addressed.
The original Christmas map boss will now listen to you yelling at him to hurry up (or at least pressing the skip button) and thus his intro cutscene can now be skipped.
Shock beams now use standard healing logic, which is a really fancy way of saying pets and abilities can now repair them.
The Shock Beam was also told to stop using its cheat code, and no longer heals itself to full after every attack.
Bugs Added
Genies will once again grant you three wishes, as we have reverted him to his previous state. This may be revisited in the future when/if the bug can be fixed without causing undue burden to our hardcore fans.
Known Issues
Mac / Linux builds of Moonbase and later patches are still in progress. We hope that this will be able to be addressed at some point, but there is no guarantee.
The Pirate Patch reward is currently clamped to Insane.
The beta branch is defaulting to GameSpy (which no longer exists) as the Online Provider. To fix this, please go into the game's configure tool and change the Online Provider back to Steam in order to play online. Sorry for the inconvenience!
