Dungeon Defenders

Dungeon Defenders

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Chiku's Redux Guide to Lategame
By Chiku
I am Chiku and I enjoy helping others enjoy this game.
When playing DD1 my first time through, and even now when watching others getting carried or trying to progress on their own, it is difficult to figure out what you can and cannot do. Difficult to find upgrades. You can have a single level 100 hero in this game and it will mean nothing because in the endgame you need a team of heroes. The RIGHT heroes even. So this is my Redux guide. Redux is no longer supported so this guide is bound to never be outdated, haha.
And yes, I did copy-paste a lot of this information from my other guide, haha. A lot of the information is the same after all.
The biggest differences between Normal DD1 progression and Redux progression is entering lategame.
   
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What is redux and texture fixes.
Redux was an ambitious project, like a big mod, that eventually was abandoned moslty due to loss of modivation because the players found and abused exploits too much. The economy from normal DD1 basically does not exist in redux. Redux DOES still have more content, and probably will continue to have more for quite a long time. Redux has a 6th difficulty and it adds SOOO much because EVERY map is a lategame map. You can farm just deeperwell(the very first map) and make it to lategame if you really wanted to it's that silly, haha. I've done it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyeAHhLJkA8&list Can't do that in normal DD1.

So, I'd personally only recommend redux for solo players or players that keep to their own group.

~~~For online play with randoms, events, ecomomy, updates and even the newest hero(the Hermit), play normal DD1 because redux will not have those.~~~


•Before even running the game, there's an Ini file fix you can do that fixes pixelated heroes and low poly bosses amongst other things:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wjy0NaHJnEmoE13J9rBhhBQVYg4K06ZF?usp=sharing
ini files ^ Download it, unzip it

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Dungeon Defenders\UDKGame\Config
Put the files here in the config, the files, not the whole folder. Save over the old files.


For more on how to get redux, maybe you want both redux and normal DD1 at the same time, you can watch this video... Now that normal DD1 is the one being updated again, the only difference is that I'd reverse the order you download them from how I said you should in the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBRFC0Nb8jQ
Before Starting - DLCs, Settings and Hotkeys Edit
This play-through requires DLC.
While I recommend getting all the DLC(when the game goes on sale), these are the most important ones in order:

1. The Quest for Lost Eternia Shards DLC unlocks the Nightmare Difficulty(pretty much mandatory unfortunately, not having access to nightmare difficulty locks you out of a ton of content and power. You can technically jump into people's games to access nightmare but this is a guide for solo play ;)
2. The Series EV character is probably the most important hero for mid to late-game.
3. The Summoner character is very useful in the late-game minions are used more like self-healing walls.
4. Jester character is a very good DPS, very fast base cast rate(mostly used for upgrading things quickly) and has one of the better utility abilities for combat in the game.
5. The Tinkerers Lab DLC Map is a great map for levelling up very quickly at any stage you're at in the game.
6. Hero Pack is just nice to have. None are required but adds more heroes for more fun.


Settings:
Consider Toggling off

•Show Tutorial
•Auto show Level Up
•Camera Shake
•Step Toward Melee Target
•Enemy Spawn Notifications

Consider Toggling On
•Fast Gameplay Menu Transitions
•Enable Censor Items(If you're streaming or making videos for content or posting screenshots of rare items)
•I also have my FOV zoomed out almost all the way in my videos, this doesn't really matter... it only really helps with fighting against the Great Old One boss (and all its variants). Might make it annoying with the top-down building view being zoomed out too far.


There are a lot of hotkeys in the game that you will never know about unless you're either told or you somehow figure out on your own. here's a good list of Dungeon Defenders Hotkeys and other tricks you can do in Redux:

•Mouse wheel - Zooms in and out
•Middle mouse button - Opens hero wheel
•Escape - Menu
•F1 - Chat/Chat Log
•F2-F8 - Ingame Emulator(details next page)
•F11 - Toggles windowed/fullscreen
•1-0 - number hotkeys
---Changing number hotkeys - Hover over the option you want in the hero wheel and Hold the number you want to change it to
•1-8 to select heroes in hero selection
•9 and 0 to change pages in hero selection
•Plus and minus buttons - While placing auras and traps, changes trap and aura sizes
•Plus and minus buttons - Swaps between towers when upgrading and selling
•Tab - Chat
•"killme" in chat - kills player
•Hold Alt in Main Menu Hero Selection - Swaps around characters
•Q - Lets you look around
•R - Same as rightclick on mouse
•T - Opens Hero Wheel... Also while in a trade, adds and removes items from trade
•Ctrl+T - Adds/Removes a Page of items to trade
•U - Opens trade
•i - Character Information/Level up screen
•O - Toggle mob cards
•P - Toggle towers on minimap
•G - Readies up for the wave
•Ctrl+G - Force Start the wave as the host
•H - Hud
•L - Toggles locking a single item you're hovering over in item box
•Shift - Open Map
•X - Swap weapons(Series EV/Jester only)
•C - Pings
•N - Skips Boss Timer
•B - Toggles item colour beams
•M - Drop mana
•Ctrl+P - Toggle green arrows
•Hold Ctrl - Moves Camera with mouse
•Ctrl+Drag - Moves full page of items into a folder in your item box
•Ctrl+O - Toggle item quality borders

•Summoner Overlord Mode - Click and drag to move items around in your tavern
•Summoner Overlord Mode - Casts abilities where courser is
•Summoner Overlord Mode - you can cast each different minion all at the same time as long as you have the mana for it
•Summoner Overlord Mode - with map open, you can also click on the map and move to that location on the map
•Summoner Overlord Mode - Pick up items in build phase
•Summoner Overlord Mode with controller - R3(Down on the right joystick) opens/closes map

•Any time you can upgrade a stat, hold Shift to upgrade 5-10 at a time or Ctrl for 50-100 at a time.
•Tower Stacking - If you hit the hotkey for a tower and space-bar near at the same time(timed correctly) you can keep doing this to place towers inside each other. Some people use a macro to do this, I've always done it manually and more recently figured out how to get my controller to do it using Steam's Controller Input stuff.
•Alternate/easier way to stack minions - In Overlord mode, you can place minions inside each other as long as you don't move your mouse.

I demonstrate a lot of these hotkeys and tricks in this youtube video but the game has had some updates since I posted this so it will not have everything: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB29ZSxF4XA


Good information sources:
•The Dungeon Defenders runs and givaways Discord is the heart of the DD1 Community. If you have questions about DD1, they can answer them. https://discord.gg/FE4cRCs
•DunDefPlanner is great for builds: https://dundefplanner.com/list.php
•Dungeon Defenders Wiki: https://dungeondefenders.fandom.com/wiki/Dungeon_Defenders_Wiki is alright for looking up general information.
A Built-in Emulator!
If you're returning to the game you probably remember using multiple controllers or a third party emulator, well, you don't need those anymore!

There's an emulator built into the game now!
This emulator swaps your controls to the hero you want to play. Redux's emulator does not have controller support.

Built in emulator:
•F2 - swaps to player 1
-F3 - spawns in and/or swaps to player 2
-F4 - spawns in and/or swaps to player 3
-F4 - spawns in and/or swaps to player 4
•F6 - Spam in Splits
•F7 - Rids of all Splits
•F8 - Hides Splits, shows only player 1 (By far the best feature added to the game! I love it!)
•If your player 2,3 or 4 has a right click attack, hold right-click and swap to player 1 to have that hero auto-fire. This only works with one hero at a time. Alternatively, you can use this method to hold open your map too.
Level 0 - First Hero + Main Campaign
To clarify things. If I write "Step 3"(for example), that's the route I suggest you try out. If I write "Step 3.5" That .5 is an alternate route or a step you could take to make the next step easier. Completely Optional.

Step 1 ~ You start by picking your first hero. You only need one for now. I highly recommend Series EV, Jester, Apprentice/Adept or Countess/Squire. Not in that order, they all have their ups and downs. Series EV and Jester makes some of the early campaign maps super easy but later they become a little harder to use because you need to be precise on placements. Apprentice/Adept builds can be a little complicated, and Squire/Countess are probably the most simple. I personally enjoy Adept. I like complicated but the Series EV is probably the fastest and best for progression :3

The heroes I didn't mention all make this rout a LOT harder and you would basically need to farm up to double the stat requirements I will mention going forward.

Step 1.5 ~ After selecting your first hero an optional thing to do right from the start is a little bit of cheese. Open up the Pirate Invasion Map on Ascension Hardcore difficulty and just start opening chests for items. You can do this till your satisfied, or you can go till you get a weapon with some damage. I usually go for a staff with maybe around 50 upgrades, damage and a good knock-back... which also translates to the radius of your slam attack. Find one with a super low level requirement, maybe even one you can use right away at level 1! High level items are garbage and not worth picking up. Just hit G or Ctrl G(if you're hosting a group) when you're done so you sell all the items left on the floor and restart as many times as desired. You can also use the extra mana to purchase a pet from the pet shop for the extra DPS and/or stats.
---Beep absolutely abuses this in the beginning of his Speedrun to Divine playthrough I'd recommend checking out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4--6FXZLr4&t=7927s My playthrough will go beyond Divine Crystals which is where his ends so come back! (Probably around my level "78" section is where you should pick this guide up again if you take Beep's rout) :3


Step 2 ~ If you're wanting a slightly slower, more reliable but still speedy progression then jump into the main campaign, specifically the first 4 maps. Pretty simple, but I also recommend doing it on Hard Hardcore for more experience and better items in general. You want to beat Alchemical Laboratory and unlock the challenge map. It should be very possible to complete the first 4 maps without failing as long as you're dumping all your level up points into tower damage. Of course if you fail, that just means try again... all that did is kill some time in exchange for more character experience and items.

This is the beginning to my redux series. I run all the maps mentioned and more if you prefer a visual. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqsgFNZdK3E&t=9321s
Level 20~ish - Challenge: Raining Goblins
After completing Alchemical Laboratory you can now run Raining Goblins on Nightmare Hardcore.
Nightmare Buffs Tower Damage, and Raining Goblins has trash mobs... at least for a couple waves, this makes it easy to build and defend against weak goblins even this early in progression.

Step 3 ~ Challenge: Raining Goblins Nightmare Hardcore is my go-to early-game item farm map. You can get items here with up to 50 in a stat + 50 upgrades on TOP of that for a very low level hero. It's not common, but possible. You can repeat this map until you get the desired stats or you can go until you beat it to obtain a very good staff for a level 60 hero. Your aim is to get around 200-350 in tower damage with some in other tower stats. You don't need to beat the map, just farm items. https://dundefplanner.com/map.php?load=1019

Timestamp: 40:30 for Raining Goblins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqsgFNZdK3E&t=9321s
Level 22~ish(200-350 Tower Damage) - Tinkerers Lab Power Leveling
After farming Raining Goblins till you've hit 200-350 in tower damage. You can run Tinkerers Lab on nightmare hardcore!

Step 3.5 ~ First, however, there's an optional path to earn some levels if you prefer to level up some more first before taking on Tinkerers Lab(so you can use some of the higher level requirement gear you've probably collected or seen). By running the first couple waves of Dread Dungeon on insane hardcore you can earn exp enough to reach level 45 or a bit more.

Step 3.7 ~ Deeperwell Easy Survival is also an optional thing to run before doing Tinkerers Lab(easier if you already have a few heroes). You would run this for a meme pet called: Nessie. Nessie is adorable, but what you're after is the flat 100s it gives you across all your stats. Very handy and just makes Tinkerers and the next step after Tinks a little easier.

Step 4 ~ Tinkerers Lab Nightmare Hardcore is the map you can run till you have a full team of heroes. Power level your other heroes to level 74 here and after the first wave, loot chests for mythical gear. This single map will take you to 500s in all your stats. Maybe even more if you have a complete armour set(all 4 pieces being Leather/Chain/Mail/Plate/Pristine).
https://dundefplanner.com/map.php?load=1018 (READ THE DESCRIPTION below otherwise it will look like an abomination.)
If you have a friend in this map with you, make sure they spawn in splits first(since the game only allows non-host to spawn in up to player 4) then host can spawn in players 5 and 6.

Timestamp: 2:33:00 for Tinkerers lab
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqsgFNZdK3E&t
Upgrading and Recommended Heroes based on Meta
Upgrading
For Builders when I state something like: "Damage>Rate>Range" I mean all upgrades on items first go into damage and if you cap damage on that piece of gear then go rate... and just make sure those pieces already have range.

Every hero that you have in during the wave will need resistances to survive(Support or DPS). Preferably "capped" resistances. The easiest way to get capped resistances is to have a full armour set and upgrade them till they hit 41%. With all 4 pieces or armour at 41% resistance, your hero will have 90% resistance on the nightmare difficulty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6hAEEZ4-yg

If you are lacking in a stat you can always use your hero level up stats to make up for it. (At level 100 that's 985 stat points). If you aren't lacking, you can just boost your main stat more.


If you're building meta heroes, your full team of heroes should be consisting of a minimum of ten heroes:

Builders:
Series EV(Damage > HP) - Used for Buff Beams and protecting your towers. (Default Costume)
Adept/Apprentice (Damage>Rate>Range) - Your main source of damage. (Apprentice any small hero Costume, adept costume doesn't matter)
Monk/Initiate(Range>Damage) - Mainly rids enemies of their elemental immunities but also slows and takes out trash mobs. (Any small monk costume, initiate costume doesn't matter)
Summoner(HP>Damage) - Mainly used as self-healing walls and to throw webs on enemies(doesn't matter which summoner costume)
Huntress(Range or Damage>Range=Rate) - Range build is mostly used alongside towers for stalling with gas traps or to rid enemies of elemental immunities with darkness traps. - Damage build is for other meta builds that don't use towers and instead rely on agro to lure enemies into the traps with minions. (just not the legendary huntress costumes)

DPS:
Monk(Resistances>Damage>AB2) - Normal costume for now(Super Legendary optional for later)
Series EV(Resistances>Damage>AB2) - Normal costume for now(EV 1.75 later)

Support:
Monk for Tower Boost(Resistances>AB1) - Normal costume for now(Super Legendary later)
Initiate for Remote Defense Boost(Resistances>AB1) - Costume doesn't matter
Jester for Upgrading/Wheeling(Resistances>Cast Rate><AB2... Specifically you want AB2 at 3726 eventually cause that's when Triple Swords maxes out at 50% Damage... then the rest into Cast Rate for upgrading towers faster) - Doesn't mater which jester costume

1 or 2 more Summoners are often used to hold guardian pets in survivals and another Jester can also be a DPS hero but these generally won't come into play until after you're done with this guide. There are obviously more heroes for nich situations but these ten are what we can stick to for now.

Wiki for Costume Stats - https://dungeondefenders.fandom.com/wiki/Costume_Stats
Level 74(stats at 500s) - Fish
Without upgrading items from Tinkerers Lab you should be sitting around 450-600 in all your tower stats. Lets double those stats with 1 single pet.

Step 5 ~ Moonbase Hard Hardcore is where you get the Fish in a Bowl pet. It doesn't do anything but it can provide stats up to 500-600 in each stat. This requires a secret where you hit two buttons, dance on a DDR machine, click on the fish and beat the map. We pick Hard Hardcore difficulty because it's the easiest you can complete it and the fish are already top tier(the difference between hard hardcore fish and nightmare fish are barely visible). https://dundefplanner.com/map.php?load=1083 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nLVGBQPIbk&t
Level 74(1k stats) - Dread Dungeon
After acquiring a Fish in a Bowl pet... or a bunch... you are what I would consider mid-game and should be around 1k in all your tower stats. We are going to jump straight into farming better armour.

Step 6 ~ Dread Dungeon Nightmare Hardcore - Clear this to unlock survival. The first wave is sorta tough and there's a couple different ways to do it. I would start with auras, and swap to adept builder for in-wave building/spamming out towers when I can while avoiding spiders. If you have a genie pet by now this becomes a lot easier to collect mana.
Anther way to do it is to level up a DPS weapon and DPS your way through the first wave. https://dundefplanner.com/map.php?load=1021

Step 7 ~ Dread Dungeon Nightmare Hardcore Survival(mix mode too will help) - Around wave 17 is when Transcendent items will start dropping. You can keep your heroes out to level up to 78 but I would recommend limiting the weapons that can drop to 1-2 types so more armour can drop in general. Don't have a Jester out, for example, since Jester can use all weapon types. You can farm this map until you are satisfied. The next step will require 2500 tower damage and the step after that will need closer to 4k tower damage. Good upgraded sets of transcendent will get you pretty close to 4k.

Step 7.5 ~ Alternative maps for farming armour at this stage will all be harder but also better. Maybe you can get a few pieces and skip over and enjoy different maps: King's Game is a solid option that doesn't have a boss. Mistymire Forest has an easy boss and this map also drops really good stat weapons. I'd say Marrago Desert Town is the best option at this stage because it not only drops great stat weapons but potentially also really good DPS staffs. I would almost go as far as making Marrago the step 8 but it's not really that important and I do recommend bringing a DPS character into this map for the boss so it might just be easier to do in a later stage.
https://dundefplanner.com/map.php?load=2198

Timestamp: 46:45 for Dread Dungeon and 1:09:30 for Survival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nLVGBQPIbk
Level 78(2.5k Tower Damage) - Arcane Library/Moonbase
After getting transcendent items and just more stats you should be around 2.5k-4k in tower damage. These maps can be done with 2.5k but the more you have the easier they will be. I also heavily start using a tower boost monk now, highly recommend making one for maps going forward if you haven't already.

Step 8 ~ Arcane Library Nightmare Hardcore - Arcane is one of the easier accessory farms in the game, it is great for exp and after completion it rewards random stuff... which can include guardian pets which are really useful for later, but most of all, it has the potential to reward a really good genie pet. I recommend getting a genie for a Tower Booster Monk, second for your Remote Defense Boost Initiate, a third for your Upgrader Hero. Arcane also has a lupin bow drop which is really good for having on a Jester in combination with a Genie for upgrading towers really fast. https://dundefplanner.com/map.php?load=1482

Step 8.5 ~ Moonbase Nightmare Hardcore - Moonbase is a tiny bit harder but it also has the random rewards Arcane has. Moonbase also has a DPS weapons, mainly a great Staff and a Gun... and more fish. You can also try and get the Treadmill on Treadmill pet here by beating DDR with a score of exactly 42 but the pet has a level 100 requirement so it's not worth your time, at least not yet. https://dundefplanner.com/map.php?load=1083 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF7o5aNwxk0

Step 8.7 ~ Hall of Court Ascension Hardcore Survival rewards a guarenteed genie pet at wave 15. It isn't an easy map at this stage of the game but it is possible. Of course, it requires you to progress further in the main campaign too.

Timestamp 1:25:20 for Arcane Library
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uIu44WZB8E&list=PLDezMHET__jbBx4iB93DZBZ3nI55KrAod&index=8
Level 78(3k Tower Damage) - DPS Pets
Redux has quick and easy options for DPS pets. Generic pets like Dragons or Griffons can be super good. Crystalline Dragons and Crystalline Griffons(endgame pets) are only slightly better in that they have a better spread, otherwise the damage is pretty similar.

Step 9 ~ Ascension Hardcore Deeperwell is actually doable around 1k stats, beat this to unlock survival. (Surprise, there's a Boss! Wecome to Redux :) Complete this and if you get lucky, the tavernkeep will already have a pet for you to buy. If not, it's time to run survival.

Step 10 ~ Ascension Hardcore Deeperwell Survival is probably the easiest map to run for early DPS pets. The griffon from wave 15 will work for now. You can also run the first 4-5 waves of this over and over again for tons of EXP. Can reach level 100 pretty easy, but I personally think it's a waste of your time. Every map on ascension rewards good exp, Farm items and get exp on the side!

Step 11 ~ Sky City Nightmare(Hardcore Optional) we want to clear for the survival.

Step 12 ~ Sky City Nightmare Hardcore Survival we want to reach wave wave 25 for the Propeller Cat Pet. This pet buffs your hero damage, generally placed on a DPS character that's not a Monk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-U5OVnDScQ
Level 78(4k Tower Damage) - Infested Ruins
I am keeping it at level 78 but in reality you could be level 100 already with a few heroes depending on how many times you've farmed the previous maps. This detail doesn't matter anymore, haha.

Step 14 ~ Infested Ruins Nightmare Hardcore is the map for weapons. Mainly the Honey Gun and Honey Spear for DPS and the Staff for tower stats or DPS(if you get a good one). Honey Gun is used in combination with Series EV for her Proton Charge Blast(AB2). https://dundefplanner.com/map.php?load=1013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJDir4V5XRM

Step 14.5 ~ Infested Ruins Nightmare Hardcore Survival is one of the best Nightmare survivals for farming armour in the game. Rewards a Wasp Queen pet at wave 35 which is great for taking out the krakon boss too.

Timestamp 1:20:44 for Infested Survival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2WFgVg9UeM&list
Town in the Cliffs and Armour Farming Survivals
Town in the Cliffs on Ascension Difficulty is basically what we've been preparing for. Although you can run this on Nightmare too if you wanted.

Step 16 ~ Town in the Cliffs Ascension Hardcore is THE map for the Genie Scimitar. A stupid powerful monk weapon, basically the last monk weapon you'll ever need(there are other on par options for DPS like Trident or Glaive of Unicorn). Genie Scim is one of the best for DPS and THE best Mana Gathering weapon in combination with a genie pet. Meaning it's the best weapon for tower boosting with. It also shoots through walls with unlimited range reguardless of the map you're playing(cheesy weapon). The Sword Rewarded here is also one of the best ones for the Barbarian. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zduQnJxG34
https://dundefplanner.com/map.php?load=1251 - Safe
https://dundefplanner.com/map.php?load=1349 - Stacking
https://dundefplanner.com/map.php?load=1493 - non-stack

Step 17 ~ Town in the Cliffs Ascension Hardcore Survival is one of the easiest endgame armour farms in the game if you prefer farming survival over farming Divine Crystals. Survivals will reward more Div/Void Per hour in general but farming specific pieces with Divine Crystals is no joke either. So it's a pick your poison situation.


You can basically farm any survival map you want for endgame armour drops. Every map will drop the best. However, there are still some better then others. Infested Ruins Nightmare hardcore was the best map to farm in normal DD1 for quite a while, so "Infested Quality" is a coined term we've just gotten used to.

The WORST maps on ascension difficulty have "Infested Quality", and it only gets better. There's actually 5 tiers. I'll mention the maps in Tier's 1-3. I don't think anything was placed in tier 4 but I imagine if more map balancing had happened, there would have been.

Ascension Difficulty Tier 1(Infested Quality):
Deeperwell
Foundries and Forges
Magus Quarters
Alchemical Library
Dread Dungeon
City in the Cliffs
Moonbase

Ascension Difficulty Tier 2(Slightly better then Infested Quality):
Servants Quarters
Castle Armory
Hall of Court
The Throne Room

Ascension Difficulty Tier 3(Slightly better then Tier 2):
Royal Gardens
Ramparts
Endless Spires
Summit

Ascension Difficulty Tier 5 is simply every map i haven't mentioned.
There's a lot in the best tier.
Mana and Winter Maps
Mana is one thing redux does well, it provides options like selling coal to the coal forge, otherwise you can try to sell Divine Crystals to other players(if there are any), haha. Pirate invasion is tough but it's a map designed to give mana. Lab Assault you can run over and over again and sell the items. Survival armour farming is also a great way to get mana, it's the slowest option here but you'll be farming enough to upgrade your armour and weapon over time! Upgrading accessories will probably have to wait.

Before getting into the winter maps, I would recommend having your DPS EV all set up at this point with a pretty good Honey Gun with a base damage(after upgraded) above 300,000, Propeller Cat Equipped. Tower boost monk could have some hero boost stats too... makes it easier then having a separate monk for hero boost(but a second monk for this is also an option, maybe even just use your DPS monk).

Step 15 ~ Wintermire Nightmare Hardcore is the map I would consider the DPS check into late-game. The waves themselves can be done with as little as 2.5k stats but the bosses are very tanky and tough to kill. A Series EV equipped with a Honey Gun and a propeller cat, boosted by a monk can do it. Wintermire rewards a decent monk weapon, accessories and coal. At this point in the game, you'd mainly probably convert coal to mana but they can spawn a diamond pet if you really wanted one. https://dundefplanner.com/map.php?load=805

Timestamp 1:14:20 for Wintermire Nightmare Hardcore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJDir4V5XRM

Step 15.5 ~ Winter Wonderland 2 Nightmare Hardcore I would argue is just an easier map then Wintermire. The bosses are just a bit less RNG as to whether they just kill you or not. You also have more time to make desisions. You also can get more coal from the secret! Besides coal, this map also rewards a decent monk weapon and accessories. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD_45ouFLXE

Step 16 ~ Wintermire Nightmare Hardcore Survival is important and provides some good pets for this stage of the game so much so that it still makes Wintermire pretty mandatory. The Snowman Pet is great for any DPS content, like the Jack of all Trades of all things DPS, it's just not the best at anything. The Christmas Elephant is great at Assault type maps. The Turkey on Treadmill pet is the next tower pet I would recommend going for. Turkey on Treadmill has the best move-speed multiplayer in the game, and it has a level requirement of 93 as opposed to level 100 that other pets at this stage have. https://dundefplanner.com/map.php?load=1581

Timestamp 13:10 for Wintermire Nightmare Hardcore Survival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1mXG4gLdqA
The End
You are now capable of running most of the content the game has to offer. Or, at the very least, you are capable of farming for any item you need in order to do any content in the game. You can do whatever you want at this point. There are so many things I could point to it's way too much for me to even make a decision.

But.

If you have any questions, concerns, comments or need something expanded on, explained, corrected or even if you want something added. Please mention it below! Or better, contact me on in the Dungeon Defenders Runs and Giveaways discord here: https://discord.gg/FE4cRCs because steam doesn't really let me directly communicate back ^^ (~and let me know if there are any broken links!)
12 Comments
No One You Know 28 Jul, 2024 @ 5:41pm 
Thanks. I don't use discord. I found a work around for tower stacking using AHK v1.1 and just use the keyboard to place towers while I use controller.
Chiku  [author] 28 Jul, 2024 @ 5:38pm 
@No One You Know
I've been meaning to make one. It's just a lot of work XD
For now I have my setup in the DDRNG discord tho pinned in help chat if you want to take it for yourself ^^
No One You Know 28 Jul, 2024 @ 4:03pm 
Discord wants my phone number and I don't want Discord to have my phone number.; Is there anyway you can make a tower stack for controllers guide please?; Or a YouTube video?
Chiku  [author] 16 May, 2024 @ 5:08pm 
@Mixes
Splitscreen was always abused and always balanced around, so they just made it easy hiding splits is super nice. You can still play with others just fine, it just made it easier to play solo. That's how I think of it. A lot of people used third party emulators on the regulator basis already... I used to have 4 controllers myself, haha.

I like both Redux and Normal DD1, They're both DD1 after all ^^

Redux is still amazing for challenge content... for example, I did a series where I ONLY ran Deeperwell from 0 and reached late-game stats basically. You can't do that in normal DD1. Redux also just has more to do since EVERY single map can be farmed in the late-game... if you wanted to. The sixth difficulty adds so much.

There's reasons to try redux, but generally I'd say stick to normal DD1 now, I'm already enjoying the additional QoL a lot more. Never mind normal DD1 having most of the community, somehow still has ecomomy of some sort, events and future updates.
Mixes 16 May, 2024 @ 7:57am 
Hey, Chiku! You're a legend in the DD community. Was curious, do you personally prefer to play Redux or Vanilla? It's cool having a controller emulator but I dislike how that makes it feel like you shouldn't play with a group of 4. otherwise it's some people running around as DPS' and the others just being tower bots. Am I shallow thinking in regards to that? Thanks!
Chiku  [author] 28 Mar, 2024 @ 5:29pm 
So yea, basically after you're done with this guide, haha.
No real reason for me to mention it.
Trip 28 Mar, 2024 @ 4:38pm 
i get it right after i tackle city in the cliffs nm for the scim and then get dc with that scim, gear a dps and go for the BIG CHICKEN... also, i found that my best snowman, while more reliable than my turkey at u+ still did less dmg than an Ultimate turkey
Chiku  [author] 28 Mar, 2024 @ 4:32pm 
@Trip but how would you get it, what do you need in order to farm it? Probably Genie Scimitar? Wonder how early you can grab that >_> I've never really tested that. After you're through with this guide you can basically go for anything you want, but I'd say the most efficient way to get a decent early pet is to just run Deeperwell for a Griffon >_> and that can hold you for a while.
Trip 27 Mar, 2024 @ 9:59pm 
it's pretty good even at transcendent quality. i get it instead of the mega chicken from spring valley
Chiku  [author] 27 Mar, 2024 @ 12:41pm 
@Trip I wouldn't wish anyone to farm Turkey Hunt, haha, It's slow... but I am curious, at what point in this guide would you grab that and/or what would you need for that?