We’re back with another article on Dungeon Defenders. This time we’ll be looking at the classes in detail, what their towers / traps are, and what works for me in terms of strategy.
The Squire is one of the four original classes and is a melee class fighter. His main attack swings his weapon and his secondary blocks, making him a viable “tank” in emergencies. For those of you not hip with the lingo, a “tank” is a character with high health that can often soak up a lot of damage, giving others the time they need to kill off the attackers. His Circle Slice ability is an area of effect (AOE) that does damage and pushes enemies back. His Blood Rage ability makes him stronger and faster at the cost of defense. Both require mana to use.
The Countess is an expansion character offered as downloadable content (DLC). She has the same towers as the Squire but her abilities are slightly different. Unlike the Squire, she remembered to wear pants. She can also by default move faster than the Squire but at the cost of other stats like health and casting. Her Call to Arms ability increases her damage, defense, and speed while buffing the damage of her friends around her. Her Joust ability sends her charging forward in a powerful attack, knocking most enemies back.
Left to Right: Spiked Barricade, Bouncer, Harpoon, Bowling, Slice n Dice.
Towers:
Spiked Barricade – This will be the bread and butter of most of your games. You’ll use these to block off choke points. The spiked barricade does damage to any melee class that attacks it, though archers can attack it from a distance without taking damage. You’ll want to position these in such a way to where the enemy can’t get past them or flank them to attack them from behind. Enemies that attack the spiked barricade from behind do not take damage. If your choke point is wide enough for your character to squeeze around the barricade, your enemy will be able to do the same. Sometimes, you’ll need to put two or even three barricades side by side to prevent your enemies from going around it. A spiked barricade does physical damage so it will do damage to everything, even those enemies with various magical resistances.
Bouncer – Remember those pinball games in the arcade? Remember those round bumpers that would push the ball all over the place? That’s what this is, but it has spikes on it. Anything that comes near the bouncer turret is thrust backward or to the side and takes damage. There is a cooldown while it resets, based on your “rate of fire” attribute under your character’s tower stats you increase as you level. It does not have as much health as the spiked barricade but I find it useful when lava or a floor of spikes lie beneath the walkway on either side. The bouncer turret will push them into instant death. It’s also not a bad filler when you have extra population room and need something else to build, I usually place it in front of my barricades giving my harpoons an extra line of defense.
Harpoon – I keep calling it a ballista, a bad habit from my days playing Warcraft II. A harpoon is a stationary machine that shoots large arrows. These arrows do physical damage and pass through enemies, allowing them to strike multiple targets at once. This turret has a cone of attack, meaning its fire is limited to anything that comes within its range and field of view. You’ll be able to see the cone as you’re placing it, make sure it extends beyond your barricade so mobs can be shot while their progress is being halted. A popular strategy is to put a barricade down and a harpoon directly behind it. The arrows pass through the barricade so you won’t have to worry about that. They also have a limited ability to aim up or down, however the arrows will break when they connect with the ground or a wall. They do attack enemies that approach from the air.
Bowling – It’s a tall tower with a large hole at the end pointing down and diagonally. It has a narrow cone of attack but the boulders / bowling balls it shoots are pretty devastating and bounce from target to target. They are best used at the top of a hill along a long stretch. You have to watch your placement as the boulders WILL break against the back of your barricades, or anything else for that matter.
Slice n Dice – It’s a bouncer turret but instead of spikes it has blades and will not push anything back. Imagine General Grievous from Star Wars spinning in place for three hours straight with all four lightsabers extended. It’s expensive but devastating and useful in high traffic areas. The health on these turrets, like the bouncer turret, is less than a spiked barricade so they will need repairs more often.
Strategies:
The Squire / Countess is very versatile. All of their towers do physical damage meaning they don’t have to worry about enemies that are resistant to certain forms of magic damage. Their harpoons are able to cover the air and their spike barricades can not only stop enemies from advancing but do damage to boot.
I personally favor the tower build, that is, concentrating on putting points into your towers when you level up. Being a killing machine will do you little good when you’re soloing a mission and are being swarmed by enemies after your towers go down. I favor tower health, then equalize my points between damage and rate of fire. You don’t want your harpoons to be a powerhouse but only able to fire every five seconds, you’ll want to keep the fire up when there’s a lot of enemies coming at you. I occasionally put points into radius to give my harpoons a wider range of attack. It comes in handy for those pesky wyverns.
It’s tempting to go all out, but good tower placement will net you an easy win and extra XP for not being hit.
Work on your tower placement first and foremost, hang back and repair, and during the tough fights go ahead and help them out. If an ogre approaches, go on out and keep it busy while keeping him in range of your towers. Run back and heal when you’re less than half health and go back out. If you can keep him in range of your harpoons but at a safe distance from them, you’ll see an easy victory.
You can view video play sessions here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ELKe0cMgh0