Hello, you little Ogre spudge stains, Kyle here again – Game Director on Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap. This time I’ll be going over every single enemy in OMDD except our big boss boys (and even there, I’ll leave a teaser or two). I’m excited about this one – not only do we have a lot of new enemies, but we’ve also reworked some veteran units to make battles more fun, interactive, and focused. Let’s break it down by category and see what we’ve got.


I do need to explain a few things before we dig in: Distortions and Unstable Rifts. Distortions, if you’ve not read previous blogs, are randomized challenges you’re offered when you are selecting which Mission to play. Many of these can add specific enemy types to the waves of enemies you’ll face. And Unstable Rifts are portals that can spawn at any point during a wave in random spots on the map. If you don’t destroy the portal in time, it will spawn in more enemies – with many of these being more challenging units than you’ll see in the basic waves.

These guys are perfect, so you’re not going to see a lot of changes here. However, given the name of the game, I made it a focus early on that we get some new Orc types in the ranks.

You’ll be familiar with how our basic Orcs behave if you’ve played previous entries. Don’t tell them, but given their massive numbers, they mostly function as cannon fodder. We did remove the shield units (I never found the implementation fun to counter). And recently, we worked with our actors to get in a ton of new Orc lines – so be sure to listen in to their conversations.

Not much about their basic behavior has changed – the dynamite archer is like the orc archer, but you know, with dynamite. You won’t want to fight him while standing near your barricades, or they’ll take damage from the explosions.

What has changed is where you’ll see this unit. We’ve taken “barricade-destroying” units out of Onslaughts (waves of enemies). You’re only going to see them if you select their Distortion or if they happen to spawn out of an Unstable Rift.

The Skeleton Orc comes out at night, mostly. Outside of Distortions and maybe a certain boss, you’re only going to see these guys if you choose to take on a Night Mission. In this case, they do not come through the gates with the rest of the enemies – they crawl out of the ground at random spots around the map.

Their attack resembles those of the basic Orcs, but they do have a few unique features. You can only hit them with one headshot before their skulls pop off. No more headshots mean no more headshot bonus damage, but that doesn’t slow them down. They also have their own unique voice over lines that we absolutely love.

You’ll hear the Drummer Orc’s banger beats from miles away, and when you do, you’ll want to find him quickly. His inspiring music pumps up the enemies around him – speeding them up and giving them a damage boost. He’s just one example of the kind of support units we’ve added that give the player a little more to focus on during the waves without needing to threaten barricades.

The Balloon Orc is one of my new favorites – in part because of how much the studio execs hate encountering him. This Orc doesn’t care about the Rift, he’s a Hunter. That means he’s coming for the player. And he’s a Flying unit, which means he goes over barricades and isn’t affected by floor traps.

His little slingshot hits hard, while he’s hard to hit. The Balloon Orc is also our first strafing unit, so between shots he’ll try to break your ankles. They’ve also got their own voice lines, although the long-term exposure to the gases needed to inflate their rides seem to have affected their vocal cords.

You’ll recognize the Ogre and Armored Ogre from previous games, but we have introduced one big change. Their unique rush attack no longer stuns the player. Instead, it now bounces the player back a few trap spaces and deals damage. We’re finding this to be a lot more fun. It means you no longer lose complete control of your character, but it can be more dangerous. If you’re getting charged by one of these enemies, make sure you’re not going to get bounced off the map. And take note, the Armored Ogre will hit you further than the smaller Ogre. They’ve still got their hard-hitting swing attack as well.

We’ve tried shield-wielding enemies in the past, but I’ve never loved their implementation. In some games, enemies hold a shield that blocks all the damage of the first hit dealt to them, and in Unchained, you simply could not attack an enemy from the front regardless of the shield’s size.

These new Shield Ogres are more fun to fight. They carry a wide shield to protect themselves and their comrades, but players can still deal headshots or hit them from behind.

These units also do not attack players. They head straight for the Rift.

Much like shields, Fire Ogres have shown up in a few different iterations. This time around, they carry a large hammer they use to smash the ground, leaving behind a large burning ring of flames. You’ll take damage from the hammer hit and by standing in the ring of fire. Nearby barricades will also take damage from the fire, so be careful where you stand. They also have a basic swing attack as well. You’ll only see the Fire Ogres if you take the Distortion or if they spawn from Unstable Rifts.

All Trolls still have their unique passive that allows them to regenerate health after not taking damage for x seconds. That means, if you start fighting a Troll, you need to keep constant pressure applied until they’re dead.

No major changes here, but just look at this dude.

The Mountain Troll is back with a cool new ability – he can now Root players. You’ll see the Mountain Troll start his spell animation when he’s nearby and a preview of the Root’s area-of-effect appears on the ground. You’ll need to jump or move out of the way.

But don’t worry, it’s not all bad if he gets ya. I made the call to remove the Ogre stun because it wasn’t fun, so I wanted to make sure any player CC in OMDD wasn’t that annoying. You can’t move while rooted, but you can still attack. It’s a more interesting interaction with a clear way to avoid it.

Say “hello,” to the new Troll Archer. This sharpshooter packs a punch and leaves you with a little present to remember him. The Troll Archer uses much larger arrows than the Orc Archer, so like the Ogre charge, the Troll Archer’s attack knocks back players. Sometimes to their doom. And if it doesn’t knock them into the drink, the arrows are dipped in poison – leaving the player poisons which ticks a small amount of HP for x second.

He runs fast, he doesn’t attack players, simple as.

Everyone’s favorite. This is the only enemy in the game that only targets barricades – they care about nothing else. We did make some changes here, though. First, they only show up with their Distortion or from Unstable Rifts. Second, they no longer explode on death, which means you can kill them near your barricades. And finally, they now brace themselves for a moment before exploding at a barricade, giving the player a second to take them out and not lose any barricades.

Unlike his barrel-carrying colleague, the Gas Sapper only cares about the player. They’re a Hunter type enemy that seeks out War Mages, then much like the Boom Sapper, explodes after a moment. Instead of a boom, this Kobold leaves behind a poisonous cloud of gas. Standing the gas applies the poison status effect to players. Take them out before they blow to stop the cloud from appearing.

This little dude is nasty. The Infected Kobold is another player hunter, and this one’s coming to nibble on them dogs. If you get bit, you’ll be affected by Infection. Infection halves your maximum HP for x seconds.

The OG player hunter is back and as bloodthirsty as ever. The Gnoll Assassin hits hard, but no longer slows players. Instead, their status effect causes the player to take x% higher damage for x seconds. And like other hunters, you can no longer lure these guys straight into the Rift (sorry, not sorry).

No big changes here, but like other barricade destroyers, you’ll only see them from Distortions and Unstable Rifts. They also cannot be lured into the Rift.

In the air! Flyers got an overhaul for OMDD. They no longer come out of their own gates; they fly lower than before (about the height of a Troll); but they still go over barricades and do not trigger floor traps. With these changes, they still serve an important purpose but are far less frustrating to encounter.

The Hellbat is your basic flying unit – it soars over barricades and shoots fireballs at players.

The Hellbaby now functions as a flying runner. It’s faster than big papa and doesn’t attack players.

The Lifebat flies around looking for ally units that need a little panacea. They shoot healing orbs pretty frequently, so you’ll want to focus ‘em.

I destroyed your precious Stone Staff, and then I gave the ability to the enemy team. The Stonebat’s attack applies the Petrified status effect. If the orb hits you, you’ll be turned to stone for x seconds – being unable to move but impervious to damage. You get to sit there and watch as enemies enter the Rift.

The Cyclops Mage makes his return with a nice change to his attack. He launches a large ball of green magic from his staff that moves slowly and slightly homes towards the targeted player. It’s slower and less accurate than before, but it hits hard. And when he dies, the Cyclops Mage heals nearby enemies.

These next two got such a major rework that we think they deserve new names. The former Mesmerizer is now the Druid. The Druid’s eye laser applies the Silence status effect – leaving the player unable to use any abilities except their primary for x seconds. They’re also a flying unit, meaning they go right over barricades. And finally, they no longer heal nearby enemies on death.

The Cyclops Shaman was extremely frustrating for players, so he’s left that life behind him. Now referred to as the Guardian, he casts a powerful AoE spell that buffs nearby allies – giving them x% damage reduction for x seconds. This has taken him from one my least favorite units to one of my favorites.

The Lizard Thief is a player hunter that only appears in certain environments. He aggressively pursues the players and steals coins and deals damage with every hit of his primary and combo attacks. He does not enter Rift and does not turn invisible.

Little Moneybags is a very unique lil guy in OMDD. He can spawn anywhere on any level with his big bag of dough. He won’t attack you or enter the Rift – he doesn’t even want to be there. He seems to have teleported to the wrong location after a heist, and you only have until his teleportation spell recharges to take him out. He drops coins behind him with every hit and drops a huge pile of loot if you finish him off. Little Moneybags also has his own VO lines, and I love him.

You won’t find any Elementals in default Onslaughts as they kind of like to do their own thing.

The Fire Elemental spawns with a Distortion and Unstable Rifts. They now have a ranged attack that launches a huge fireball at players. Upon death, they break into two small Firelings.

The Firelings only spawn from defeated Fire Elementals. They’re a fast hunter unit that seeks out players and barricades, however they prioritize players.

We’ve finally made the Earth Elemental as tanky as they deserve to be. They are a force to be reckoned with. And even when you are able to take one out, they spawn into two smaller Earthlings. The Earth Elemental spawns from Distortions and Unstable Rifts, and come out swinging with a melee attack.

The Earthlings also only spawn from defeated Earth Elementals. They’re basically beefy Kobold runners – quick and going straight for the Rift.

The Water Elementals only show up when it’s raining. They can appear anywhere on the map, but if you’re quick, you can prevent them from spawning by destroying their puddle orb in time. This works just like the Unstable Rifts.

If they do finish spawning, they’ll attack the player by stretching out their limbs a few trap spaces and giving them a good smack. When defeated, the Water Elemental spawns two Waterlings. Waterlings behave like smaller, weaker versions of their larger counterpart.

Here we have a few new powerful Elemental types. The Rift Elementals only spawn from Unstable Rifts and give you a reason to consider just letting that Unstable Rift finish doing its thing. See, if you let the Blue Rift Elementals or Riftlings into the Rift, you actually GAIN Rift Points. On the other hand, the Red variants will subtract some major Rift Points if they make it in. All versions are immune to CC.

Both larger versions of these units also have special abilities on death. The Blue Rift Elementals reset nearby traps, and the Red Rift Elementals disable nearby traps.

I’m going to save the bosses and let you all experience them when OMDD is released early next year. They’re a whole new experience with their own Onslaught type, unique behaviors and abilities, and voice actors that bring a whole lot more depth to the characters.

They’ve also got their own intro scenes, so here’s a little teaser of Ghostfang’s entrance.

And there we go! Hope y’all are excited to start slaughtering this lineup. We’ve been having a ton of fun facing off against them and all their new tricks.

Next up is the blog on War Mages! I’ll be breaking down who they are and how they play. Until then, come join the Discord[discord.gg] and make sure to wishlist Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap on Steam.

<3 Kyle

Game Director
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap