Dungeon Defenders: Awakened — patch notes and updates
Stored observation / content update:
Dated developer announcements recorded from Steam. Open the source for the complete update.
| Update | Date | Excerpt / source |
|---|---|---|
| Dev Post: What We Are Working On - June 2026 | 2026-06-04 | Greetings Defenders, We wanted to take some time to introduce ourselves, talk a little bit about who we are, and share some of the things we have planned for DD:A moving forward. Before we get into our plans, we think it's important to set expectations. We are a small core team of passionate community members working under Chromatic. We're a group of players who care deeply about DD:A and were given the opportunity to help develop the game we love. Over the last nine months, we've spent our time learning, fixing issues, improving systems, and delivering updates to the game. While we're proud of what we've accomplished so far, we've also learn |
| Patch 6/2/26 | 2026-06-02 | New Map of the Week: The map of the week this week is Endless SpiresCampaign double rune drops on completing the map of the week on both nightmare and massacre Challenges: Completing the Assault challenge on insane or higher gives double challenge rewards.Survival/Mixed Mode:Must be done with the rifted mode toggle onCompleting the map of the week on nightmare awards:the fused Miner ArmorFused Balasticusancient hatchlingCompleting the Map of the week on massacre awards:The Arcanist Bootsancient hatchling (either varient)Wolfsbane ClaymorePure Strategy:must be completed with the rifted mode toggle turned oncompleting the map of the week on Nig |
| Hotfix 5/29/26 | 2026-05-30 | Hotfix Patch 5/29/26Greetings Defenders,This hotfix focuses on rune drop consistency, tooltip clarity, accessory balance adjustments, and updates to Crystal Core transmogs.Rune UpdatesAll runes have had their preferred drop locations updated to match the campaign maps with their highest drop percentages.Bug FixesFixed an issue where the Summoner was displaying the old tower ordering.Updated the Decoy GR rune description to better reflect its functionality.Fixed a typo in the Reflect Field rune tooltip.Updated the Overclock Beam rune description for clarity.Updated the Beaming Blossom rune description for clarity.Updated the Sludge Pool rune d |
| DD:A DLC - Crystal Core: Relics Unsealed - Now Availible! | 2026-05-27 | Greetings Defenders,We’re excited to announce that the DDA Crystal Core: Relics Unsealed cosmetic DLC is now available!This DLC brings back 5 fan-favorite Crystal Core transmogs from the original game as direct ports, preserving the exact look and feel that made them so iconic. Rather than reimagining these classics, we wanted to preserve their original identity and bring them directly into DDA for both returning players and longtime fans to enjoy once again.Included Crystal Core TransmogsOG Crystal CoreGobletBook Of SoulsCrystallinePot of GoldAll Crystal Cores included in this bundle can be accessed through the Transmog UI in the Tavern via |
| Patch 5/26/26 | 2026-05-27 | Greetings Defenders,A new Map of the Week rotation is here! This update brings new rewards for Royal Gardens, challenge incentives featuring Crystal Core pets, and additional fixes and improvements for The Outpost. Check out the full details below.New Map of the WeekThis week’s Map of the Week is Royal Gardens.CampaignCompleting the Map of the Week on Nightmare or Massacre difficulty awards double Rune drops.ChallengesCompleting the Creeping Challenge on Insane difficulty or higher now awards one of the Crystal Core pets.Survival / Mixed ModeMust be completed with the Rifted Mode toggle enabled.Nightmare Difficulty RewardsFused Militia ArmorF |
| Patch 5/19/26 | 2026-05-20 | Greetings Defenders,Patch 5/19/26 is now live! This week’s update brings a brand-new Map of the Week rotation, updated rewards, and several spawning adjustments to improve gameplay pacing and scaling across multiple maps.New Map of the WeekThis week’s Map of the Week is The Outpost.CampaignCompleting the Map of the Week on Nightmare or Massacre difficulty awards double Rune drops.Survival / Mixed ModeMust be completed with the Rifted Mode toggle enabled.Nightmare Difficulty RewardsFused Guard ArmorFused Royal BladeMini OgreMassacre Difficulty RewardsArcanist GlovesMini Ogre (all variants can now spawn)Fused Protean SlicerPure StrategyMust be |
| No Map of the Week Patch This Week | 2026-05-15 | Greetings Defenders, Greetings Defenders,We’ve received a lot of feedback regarding the timing of our Map of the Week rotations, with many players requesting that they release earlier in the week. To better align with the weekly reset schedules used in DD1 and DD2. We’ve also seen feedback from players asking for a little more time to farm the limited-time pet, Overload (Drops from Mix Mode rifted mode every 7 weeks.) To help address both of these concerns, we will not be releasing a new Map of the Week patch this week. This will allow players additional time to farm Overload while also helping us transition to a new weekly schedule. Starting |
| Hot Fix 5/12/26 | 2026-05-12 | Greetings Defenders,We’ve rolled out another update focused on adjusting Halloween Spooktacular, along with bug fixesMap UpdatesAcross all game modes on Halloween Spooktacular, total Defense Units have been reduced to 105.Reduced enemy spawn timers across all lanes to help speed up wave pacing.Wyverns now spawn using a percentage-based schedule, with a maximum of 75 spawning on Halloween Spooktacular.Halloween Spooktacular now spawns fewer enemy lanes in Survival, Mixed Mode, and Pure Strategy.Halloween Spooktacular now includes proper survival lane behavior.Increased the number of Sirens spawning during waves 23–25.Accessories UpdateCasting |
| Patch 5/7/2026 | 2026-05-08 | Greetings Defenders,This update brings a brand-new Map of the Week rotation, double rewards for Halloween Spooktacular challenges, a new special pet reward, and several bug fixes. Check out the full details below.New Map of the WeekThe Map of the Week for this week is Halloween Spooktacular.CampaignCompleting the Map of the Week on Nightmare or Massacre difficulty now awards double Rune drops.ChallengesCompleting the Halloween Spooktacular Challenge on Insane difficulty or higher now awards double rewards.SurvivalMust be completed with the Rifted Mode difficulty modifier enabled.Nightmare Difficulty RewardsFused Ancient Armor SetFused Crystal |
| Hot Fix 5/2/26 | 2026-05-02 | Greetings Defenders,We’ve deployed a small update targeting a reward issue in Map of the Week along with improvements to the Sniper Cannon’s rune functionality. See the details below.Bug FixesFixed an issue where Map of the Week (Massacre, Mixed Mode) did not properly award Fused Ragnarök.Tower UpdatesSniper CannonRune projectiles now properly pierce targets instead of being destroyed on impact.Rune pierce count increased to 3 targets, up from 2.Thank you for your continued support, Defenders. We’ve got more content coming soon, so keep an eye out for what’s next. If you’d like to stay connected and join the conversation, check out our Discor |
| Patch 4/30/26 | 2026-05-01 | Greetings Defenders,We’ve rolled out a new update focused on bug fixes, balance adjustments, and improvements across towers, loot, and maps. This patch also introduces updates to the Map of the Week, along with some fixes to Wyvern behavior and fused item passives. Check out the full details below.Map of the WeekThis week’s Map of the Week is Tornado Highlands.CampaignCompleting the map on Nightmare or Massacre awards double Rune drops.Survival / Mixed ModeRequires Rifted Mode to be enabled.Nightmare Rewards:Fused Primitive ArmorFused Crystal PolearmGoblin Gearling (both variants)Massacre Rewards:The Arcanist BootsGoblin Gearling (both varian |
| Update 4/23/26 | 2026-04-23 | Greetings Defenders,We apologize for the delay in this week’s patch. We were still addressing multiplayer issues at the time of release and made the decision to hold the update until those issues were resolved. To ensure players still get a full week with each Map of the Week, we will be moving our patch schedule to Thursdays going forward. We’ve got a solid round of updates focused on spawn consistency, early progression, and overall gameplay improvements. This patch also continues refining spawns across each of the modes while addressing bugs and expanding rewards.MAP OF THE WEEKThe PromenadeCampaignDouble rune drops on Nightmare & Massacre |
| Patch 4/13/26 | 2026-04-14 | Greetings Defender,This week’s update introduces a new Map of the Week rotation alongside additional rewards, balance changes, and bug fixes. We’ve also made further adjustments to pets and defenses to improve overall balance and progression. Full details can be found below.New Map of the WeekThe MillCampaignCompleting the Map of the Week on Nightmare and Massacre now awards double rune drops.Survival / Mixed ModeMust be completed with Rifted Mode enabled.Nightmare Rewards:Fused MilitiaFused Woodland GlaiveDice PetMassacre Rewards:Arcanist glovesDice PetFused DragoonPure StrategyMust be completed with Rifted Mode enabled.Nightmare Rewards:Hen |
| Hotfix 4/11/26 | 2026-04-11 | Greetings Defenders,In this patch, we’ve focused on improving enemy spawn behavior, fixing key stability issues, and bringing balance updates across pets, crystal cores, and progression systems. Several quality-of-life improvements and backend adjustments have also been made to ensure smoother gameplay across all modes. Below is a full breakdown of the changes.Map UpdatesForsaken Temple and The Keep no longer drop double Arcanist rewards.Spawn UpdatesThe BazaarAll special enemy spawns across all game modes have been updated from lane-based schedules to a percentage-based spawn system.This change results in faster and more dynamic enemy spawns |
| Patch 4/6/26 | 2026-04-07 | Greetings Defenders,This update includes a fix for Arcane Alignment behavior and introduces a new Map of the Week.Bug Fixes• Fixed an issue where Arcane Alignment 5 armor pieces were incorrectly fusing Defense 4Map of the WeekThis week’s Map of the Week in Dungeon Defenders: Awakened is The Bazaar.Campaign• Completing the map awards double rune drops on both Nightmare and MassacreSurvival / Mixed Mode(Rift Mode required)Nightmare• Fused Guard Set • Fused Dark Crystal Rod • ZypherMassacre• Arcanist Helmet • Zypher • Wolfbane’s SmasherPure Strategy(Rift Mode required)Nightmare• Comically Large Sword • Tower Ancient Etherian • Fused Ancient Armo |
| Hotfix – 4/3/26 | 2026-04-03 | Greetings Defenders,This hotfix addresses issues introduced in the 3/30 update, along with additional improvements to hero stats, tower weapons, pets, and reward systems.Hero UpdatesMinimum value of Hero Casting Rate increased from 0 → 1.5Note: This change helps prevent cases where exceeding 200% casting rate could disable the repair ability. This is a temporary fix while we work on a more permanent solution.Weapon UpdatesNewly added tower weapons now have their passive loot pools aligned with existing tower weaponsAll newly added tower weapons had their stat scalars increased to 0.9 (up from 0.5)Tower weapons obtained from chests now have th |
| Patch 3/30/26 | 2026-03-30 | Greetings Defenders,This update brings gear fixes, improvements to game modes, transmog corrections, balance changes to defenses and pets, and a new Map of the Week.Gear UpdatesFixed an issue where Tower-stated Miner Gloves were rolling with hero statsThey now correctly roll with tower statsRemoved Pick Up Mana passives from:ArmorFused AccessoriesMelee weapon poolsGame Mode UpdatesPure StrategyMassacre loot quality increased to match Mixed ModeThis places Pure Strategy loot at roughly 11% higher than SurvivalPure Strategy now only drops Tower-stated gear from both chests and enemiesFollows the same philosophy as hero-stated gear in Mixed Mode |
| Hot-Fix Patch 3/23/26 | 2026-03-23 | Greetings Defenders, In this Hot fix Patch we have fixed the map of the week drops in all of the modes. Happy defending, The Community Development Team |
| Map of the Week – Lava Mines | 2026-03-23 | Greetings Defenders,This week’s Map of the Week in Dungeon Defenders: Awakened is Lava Mines.Take on the challenge across different modes to earn bonus rewards available for a limited time.CampaignCompleting the map awards double rune drops on both Nightmare and MassacreSurvival / Mixed Mode(Rift Mode required)NightmareFused Guard SetFused Woodland HearthYellow Ramster CanMassacreArcanist Chest PieceYellow Ramster CanAll three variants can drop, with the Fused variant most commonFused Furnace PokerPure Strategy(Rift Mode required)NightmareSpirebladeYellow Ramster CanRegular and Fused variants can drop, with the Fused variant appearing more of |
| Patch 3/23/26 | 2026-03-23 | Greetings Defenders,This update introduces new DPS armor sets, improvements to enemy behavior, significant tower adjustments, a new Map of the Week, and an additional Core Transmog unlock.Enemy UpdatesGoblin Copters can now target towers with their flaresThis change helps prevent AI from wandering and reduces cases where ogres are removed by the stuck timer in Pure Strategy New DPS Armor SetsNew DPS-focused armor sets now drop in Mixed Mode on Insane, Nightmare, and Massacre difficulties.Note: This is the first wave of DPS sets. All sets grant a 40% attribute bonus when fully completed.Each set is designed with a primary stat focus:Ancient Se |