In this week’s Devstream, Pmasher and Blacksmith talk in detail about your feedback on Alpha and Beyond. Tune in next week for your first sneak peek at our next patch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUnRmRYeQeo

And remember, this weekend, the Monk finally gets his chance to shine with his own Hero Focus Weekend. From Friday to Monday, the Purging Evil Monk Weapon is dropping at 3x its normal rate and Legendaries are piling up at 2x the normal rate! Combine these items, your Skill Spheres, and other heroes to create your own unique builds and battle your way into Nightmare!

We’ve also updated our Weekend Event list. Here are the upcoming events!

Event List

• Weekend of 9/4 - 3x Purge Evil Monk Weapon Drop Rate + 2x Legendary Drop Rate
  
• Weekend of 9/11 - Hero Recap Weekend (3x Monk, Huntress, Squire and Apprentice Build Weapons) + 2x Legendary Drop Rate

This weekend the Legendary Drop rate will apply to Free Play and the Weapon Drop Rate will apply to End Game! All events run from Friday to Monday 11 AM EDT.

In this week’s Devstream, Pmasher and Blacksmith talk in detail about your feedback on Alpha and Beyond. Tune in next week for your first sneak peek at our next patch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUnRmRYeQeo

And remember, this weekend, the Monk finally gets his chance to shine with his own Hero Focus Weekend. From Friday to Monday, the Purging Evil Monk Weapon is dropping at 3x its normal rate and Legendaries are piling up at 2x the normal rate! Combine these items, your Skill Spheres, and other heroes to create your own unique builds and battle your way into Nightmare!

We’ve also updated our Weekend Event list. Here are the upcoming events!

Event List

• Weekend of 9/4 - 3x Purge Evil Monk Weapon Drop Rate + 2x Legendary Drop Rate
  
• Weekend of 9/11 - Hero Recap Weekend (3x Monk, Huntress, Squire and Apprentice Build Weapons) + 2x Legendary Drop Rate

This weekend the Legendary Drop rate will apply to Free Play and the Weapon Drop Rate will apply to End Game! All events run from Friday to Monday 11 AM EDT.

Welcome to our first Alpha hotfix! Please keep in mind, all items obtained with the bugged Serenity Auras that have an Item Power of 341 or greater were re-rolled to 340 with this hotfix.

• Fixed a bug that was causing the Serenity Aura to slow substantially more than intended. Serenity Auras no longer stack their slow effects.
  
• Fixed an issue where special stats were displaying as .01 of what they should be.
  
• Fixed an issue where players were not receiving the Nightmare accessories who should have received them. Anyone with an item that, unupgraded, was Item Power 241 and above, should now have the accessories.
  
• Made a change where Ogres and Special Enemies do not drop loot on Wave 1 in End Game Nightmare.. It's our current plan to remove these enemies on Wave 1 altogether in an update very soon.
  
• Fixed another server crash.
  
• Fixed an issue where Free Play Hard, End Game Insane, and End Game Nightmare had the rounds that would end before Betsy died.
  
• Fixed an issue where the music track from Town Entrance would play behind the intro cinematic.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Apprentice's charge shot did not activate traps.
  
• Fixed an issue where curtains were blocking enemies from getting out of their spawn point. (We got new curtains.)
  
• Fixed an issue where Incursion Ogres did not count towards Monthly Mission progress.

• Players have reported on our forums that some passives are either too low or too high from what they should be. We’ll be addressing this in a hotfix next week.
  
• We’ve received a lot of feedback about the Scavenger since the update released yesterday. We've made a post about the feedback on our forums and spoke about it in our Devstream.
  
• We're still looking into the issue where players' Xpadder profiles are no longer working.

Welcome to our first Alpha hotfix! Please keep in mind, all items obtained with the bugged Serenity Auras that have an Item Power of 341 or greater were re-rolled to 340 with this hotfix.

• Fixed a bug that was causing the Serenity Aura to slow substantially more than intended. Serenity Auras no longer stack their slow effects.
  
• Fixed an issue where special stats were displaying as .01 of what they should be.
  
• Fixed an issue where players were not receiving the Nightmare accessories who should have received them. Anyone with an item that, unupgraded, was Item Power 241 and above, should now have the accessories.
  
• Made a change where Ogres and Special Enemies do not drop loot on Wave 1 in End Game Nightmare.. It's our current plan to remove these enemies on Wave 1 altogether in an update very soon.
  
• Fixed another server crash.
  
• Fixed an issue where Free Play Hard, End Game Insane, and End Game Nightmare had the rounds that would end before Betsy died.
  
• Fixed an issue where the music track from Town Entrance would play behind the intro cinematic.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Apprentice's charge shot did not activate traps.
  
• Fixed an issue where curtains were blocking enemies from getting out of their spawn point. (We got new curtains.)
  
• Fixed an issue where Incursion Ogres did not count towards Monthly Mission progress.

• Players have reported on our forums that some passives are either too low or too high from what they should be. We’ll be addressing this in a hotfix next week.
  
• We’ve received a lot of feedback about the Scavenger since the update released yesterday. We've made a post about the feedback on our forums and spoke about it in our Devstream.
  
• We're still looking into the issue where players' Xpadder profiles are no longer working.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_2whuHcVI4
Dungeon Defenders II is growing up! Gather around as it emerges from the primordial ooze and turns into an Alpha. With a big bang, the Alpha & Beyond update adds story, a rebalanced Nightmare mode, freaking rocket boots and so much more to the Etherian universe. Okay, we couldn't figure out which "getting better" metaphor to go with, so we went with all of them.

What's beyond? We're going to rapidly iterate on and improve the core feature set of the game. New feature work will still be ongoing in Alpha (insert obligatory controller support tease here), but we will also be focusing on bug fixing and balancing on a near weekly basis.

Want to know what’s different in Alpha & Beyond? Here are the all-dressed-up version of the patch notes!

With this update, we get one step closer to Open Alpha when the game is open to everyone. If you’re eager to play the game before the Open Alpha and still get a good value, we’ve added a cheaper version of DD2 to Steam today!

Starter Pack (New $14.99 Version):

• Access to Alpha (and all of the delicious Alpha ants!)
  
• 2000 Gems
  
• Four Steam-exclusive Hero Accessories

Defenders Pack ($24.99 Version, renamed from Dungeon Defenders II):

• Access to Alpha (and its crunchy ant delights!)
  
• 3000 Gems
  
• Four Steam-exclusive Hero Accessories
  
• Two Extra Hero Slots

Thank you all for your support. We can't wait to hear what you think of Alpha & Beyond!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_2whuHcVI4
Dungeon Defenders II is growing up! Gather around as it emerges from the primordial ooze and turns into an Alpha. With a big bang, the Alpha & Beyond update adds story, a rebalanced Nightmare mode, freaking rocket boots and so much more to the Etherian universe. Okay, we couldn't figure out which "getting better" metaphor to go with, so we went with all of them.

What's beyond? We're going to rapidly iterate on and improve the core feature set of the game. New feature work will still be ongoing in Alpha (insert obligatory controller support tease here), but we will also be focusing on bug fixing and balancing on a near weekly basis.

Want to know what’s different in Alpha & Beyond? Here are the all-dressed-up version of the patch notes!

With this update, we get one step closer to Open Alpha when the game is open to everyone. If you’re eager to play the game before the Open Alpha and still get a good value, we’ve added a cheaper version of DD2 to Steam today!

Starter Pack (New $14.99 Version):

• Access to Alpha (and all of the delicious Alpha ants!)
  
• 2000 Gems
  
• Four Steam-exclusive Hero Accessories

Defenders Pack ($24.99 Version, renamed from Dungeon Defenders II):

• Access to Alpha (and its crunchy ant delights!)
  
• 3000 Gems
  
• Four Steam-exclusive Hero Accessories
  
• Two Extra Hero Slots

Thank you all for your support. We can't wait to hear what you think of Alpha & Beyond!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITGX417MPy0
Defenders,

A long, long time ago, a bug appeared in Dungeon Defenders II. Our question for you is… should we fix it or not?

In the original Dungeon Defenders there was a “tower prevention radius” that went around each crystal. This prevented players from building RIGHT up next to the objectives and maximizing DU/space between choke points. Turtling strategies were viable, but required more… creativity.

This tower prevention radius also exist in Dungeon Defenders II, but a bug currently means they aren’t functioning. We’ve seen many players building right up next to objectives as this is currently a viable strategy. So our question for you is about fun -- Should we fix the bug and re-enable the tower prevention volumes or should players be able to build right next to the objectives?

To vote, head to the Initiative page!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITGX417MPy0
Defenders,

A long, long time ago, a bug appeared in Dungeon Defenders II. Our question for you is… should we fix it or not?

In the original Dungeon Defenders there was a “tower prevention radius” that went around each crystal. This prevented players from building RIGHT up next to the objectives and maximizing DU/space between choke points. Turtling strategies were viable, but required more… creativity.

This tower prevention radius also exist in Dungeon Defenders II, but a bug currently means they aren’t functioning. We’ve seen many players building right up next to objectives as this is currently a viable strategy. So our question for you is about fun -- Should we fix the bug and re-enable the tower prevention volumes or should players be able to build right next to the objectives?

To vote, head to the Initiative page!

Tomorrow, Dungeon Defenders II enters Closed Alpha. Here's what we're doing this week to prep!

Dancing with some pygmies in the eternally warm summer nights.

Working out the details on a new Gold bonus event. No ETA. Adjusting item enhancement and item sell values. Play Private button.

I also heard that River Song is returning for the Doctor Who Christmas special.



Fixing bugs and polishing all the things and not sleeping. PATCH WEEK HYPE!



Last minute bug-fixin’ and polish! After that, I’ll be workin’ on secrets.

Last push for getting last-minute balance updates before the patch goes out. Making sure all the End Game content and Nightmare is as polished as it can be.

Killin’ bugs.





Lots of future milestone planning, scheduling. Lots of tool developing, wrapping up some bugs and getting everything ready for Open Alpha… Ohh and some prototyping stuff as well!

Healing my back up a bit. Working on some fun new costumes with our art / vfx teams. Solving some last-minute patch issues.

Looking to contract / hire a concept artist that can do things in our style (open to anything, environment, character, pet, weapon etc). Know someone who fits the bill? Send an email to jobs[at]trendyent[dot]com!

Bug fixing, crash handling, addressing matchmaking issues, and last but not least, performance issues. The team is kicking their buts to get this game as polished as possible. There’s a lot of skin put into this game. I hope you enjoy it.

Still polishing the new Social Hub. We are very excited about this level! (Remember, it's a work in progress, so there's not a release date yet).



Still working on the social hub, been adding more details to the pirate ship and polishing the cabins. (Remember, it's a work in progress, so there's not a release date yet).



Playtesting and bug hunting as always. Real happy to see the Monk come up to speed with the other heroes new passives and build potentials.

Nightmare is really starting to earn its name. Very few modes have managed to kick our asses so hard since we’ve begun testing. Looking to expand our playtesting in future to include more community folks.

Helping the team get feedback on the new Nightmare changes. Keep in mind that balancing is a continuous act. This won’t be perfect on the first pass, but it should be far more challenging than it was before! Also, preparing for the Alpha & Beyond update launch. Going through what’s currently 80 pages of patch notes in Google Docs. It’ll be 30 by the time it’s done (and so will I).

Working with Victoryoftheppl and Ryster, our two Casters Guild managers, on improvements to the structure of the guild.

Shoutout to Lewp for helping out with the Wiki! There’s still a ton of information missing, so if you’d like to help out, click the link above and edit away!

I’m still in Free Play Hard. I need to hurry up and move on to End Game. I’ve been waiting for the Daily Bonus feature to see how it feels to progress through the mid-30s, as that’s been a big complaint on the forums. I really want to stream on the TrendyEnt channel more often. How would you feel about a daily stream? Is that too often?

Tomorrow, Dungeon Defenders II enters Closed Alpha. Here's what we're doing this week to prep!

Dancing with some pygmies in the eternally warm summer nights.

Working out the details on a new Gold bonus event. No ETA. Adjusting item enhancement and item sell values. Play Private button.

I also heard that River Song is returning for the Doctor Who Christmas special.



Fixing bugs and polishing all the things and not sleeping. PATCH WEEK HYPE!



Last minute bug-fixin’ and polish! After that, I’ll be workin’ on secrets.

Last push for getting last-minute balance updates before the patch goes out. Making sure all the End Game content and Nightmare is as polished as it can be.

Killin’ bugs.





Lots of future milestone planning, scheduling. Lots of tool developing, wrapping up some bugs and getting everything ready for Open Alpha… Ohh and some prototyping stuff as well!

Healing my back up a bit. Working on some fun new costumes with our art / vfx teams. Solving some last-minute patch issues.

Looking to contract / hire a concept artist that can do things in our style (open to anything, environment, character, pet, weapon etc). Know someone who fits the bill? Send an email to jobs[at]trendyent[dot]com!

Bug fixing, crash handling, addressing matchmaking issues, and last but not least, performance issues. The team is kicking their buts to get this game as polished as possible. There’s a lot of skin put into this game. I hope you enjoy it.

Still polishing the new Social Hub. We are very excited about this level! (Remember, it's a work in progress, so there's not a release date yet).



Still working on the social hub, been adding more details to the pirate ship and polishing the cabins. (Remember, it's a work in progress, so there's not a release date yet).



Playtesting and bug hunting as always. Real happy to see the Monk come up to speed with the other heroes new passives and build potentials.

Nightmare is really starting to earn its name. Very few modes have managed to kick our asses so hard since we’ve begun testing. Looking to expand our playtesting in future to include more community folks.

Helping the team get feedback on the new Nightmare changes. Keep in mind that balancing is a continuous act. This won’t be perfect on the first pass, but it should be far more challenging than it was before! Also, preparing for the Alpha & Beyond update launch. Going through what’s currently 80 pages of patch notes in Google Docs. It’ll be 30 by the time it’s done (and so will I).

Working with Victoryoftheppl and Ryster, our two Casters Guild managers, on improvements to the structure of the guild.

Shoutout to Lewp for helping out with the Wiki! There’s still a ton of information missing, so if you’d like to help out, click the link above and edit away!

I’m still in Free Play Hard. I need to hurry up and move on to End Game. I’ve been waiting for the Daily Bonus feature to see how it feels to progress through the mid-30s, as that’s been a big complaint on the forums. I really want to stream on the TrendyEnt channel more often. How would you feel about a daily stream? Is that too often?