Introduction

Many changes have occurred in the past month for Dungeon Challenge. Most notably the death of empty wave stun meta. As a result, the focus has shifted towards more of a nuke-oriented defensive strategy. This strategy revolves around trying to utilize high damage defenders who when paired with Kingdom shrines, can obliterate would be attackers. As a result, the dependency on resurrections remains high and defenders are now beginning to target Astral Watchers with dark-heavy floor ones.

Dungeon defender stuns have now become less powerful due to the fact that you can no longer chain stun and an incapacitated Creature will always be able to take at least one action before being restunned. This is amazing because no one enjoyed being stunned into oblivion, but had an unwanted side effect of neutering several S-tier bosses and their own ability to act as a dungeon defender.

Finally, while no one is currently able to run enough dungeons to achieve boss stun/silence immunity, it will most likely happen some time in the distant future.

You can read about the most previous Tier List updates HERE.

Video commentary

—video coming soon—



Dungeon Challenge 2.0 buffs

With DC 2.0, dungeon defenders will receive rotating colour buffs but every week will always have bosses gaining stun/silence immunity to guarantee them casting a special first turn. This will greatly influence how Bosses function as we know for sure a special will be cast. This will also mean that there will need to be revisions to current attacking rosters as older strategies of stun -> nuke will not work in this new day and age.

Naturally, a boss undergoing a colour buff will be the strongest so this list will just assume all bosses are either buffed or neutral. With that being said, if you had to choose between a buffed colour boss versus a non-buffed boss, the buffed one will most likely be stronger even if less invested/ranked lower.

With that being said, no one at the highest competitive level is able to fully fill out 5 dungeons to full take advantage of the stun/silence immunity so cards will be dropped accordingly.

Enchants

Enchants are a new feature within Creature Quest as they allow for further customization. While there are countless different combinations available, there will naturally be those that are superior overall.

Generally speaking, the stat-boosting Enchants tend to be the most universally strong option, especially on their primary attribute.

I plan to extensively write more about Enchants and will post that article soon. For now, just assume all Creatures have stat-boosting enchants for the purpose of these tier lists.

Kingdom shrines

For the sake of this article, it will assume everyone has equal Kingdom buffs.

Updating Tier Lists

Indicates a Creature has moved up that many tiers since the last posting.

Indicates a Creature has moved down that many tiers since the last posting.

Always assumes max awoken, equal number of Combo Dots, and optimal Enchants.

Debut Tier Lists along with further explanation can be found for Offense and Defense through their respective links.

Lists all assume fully awoken and equal Combo Dots. However, due to the scarcity of 4-dots, it is safe to assume a Creature may move up 1-2 tiers if they are your only 4-dot.

New criteria for Offense

Successful Offense teams are now built around funneling Mana into a specific Creature to instantly remove a floor 1 defender and Creatures that have exceptionally high base single target damage will be more favoured. Building upon that is the concept of using a favourable AoE ability that is comboed to 4x/8x to remove several threats.

For example, my team funnels Mana into Phoenix to have their special ready every single turn if they are used first:

Unfortunately or fortunately, no one is able to feasibly fill out 5 dungeons for the stun/silence immunity so it now the most important to find counters to wave 1.

I strongly suggest you check out my video detailing how to make a stronger Offense team:

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Strong AoE

AoE or Area of Effect are Special Abilities that are able to deal damage to several targets. However, they tend to have lower base damage to compensate for this and can also be classified as strong or weak AoE.

Any special that randomly targets Creatures is feasible on Single Target but is horrible against multiple targets. This is because you will often fail to actually kill anything. In addition, abilities that deal significantly less damage to subsequent targets is considered weak as you may only remove one Creature.

Thus, you want to look for AoE Creatures who deal full damage to all targets to ensure multiple enemies die in one Special. However, all AoE Creatures require some form of combo to deal damage which can be risky if those colours die or are stunned.

Pure damage is less powerful unless it is blisteringly high

If your Special is unable to kill a single target with no combo, it is not worth pursuing as a mana funnel as you would have been better off with an AoE ability to remove several threats. In addition, if you require 2x to remove one target, your mana funnel Creature will not have enough mana to cast again unless they have some form of mana generation via Deathblow.

One main problem arising now is the HP of defenders outpaces the PWR gains through Kingdom Shrines. This should also hold true for Enchants but we are still in the early stages of this new mechanic.

Creatures need to survive

Unless you are running a Resurrection Creature, fragile cards will be less desirable as they can be quickly removed from powerful Floor 1’s. Thus, many cards that were quite flimsy have been demoted accordingly.

Dungeon Offense Tier List Criteria –

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S S-ranked Creatures compose the best of the best from a dungeon offense point of view. These Creatures tend to have an innate tankiness that helps them survive challenging Floor 1’s while offering valuable Special Abilities for your team. In addition, some may have self healing abilities that help enable them to solo dungeons or persevere when others have died. Furthermore, they tend to occupy the strongest colour slot to help ensure your team has a someone comboing for 16x. In addition, some S-tier cards have the ability to instantly remove floor 1 defenders with a single Special. S-tier Creatures also tend to have very well defined roles on your team as they do not dabble in hybrid abilities. Finally, they are all Single-Target oriented so none of their damage is wasted. With the introduction of DC 2.0, Counter-Attack/Passive abilities have new merit in helping you survive the first Special Ability from a Boss. Finally, Debuffers have gained tremendous value as they are the most reliable way to survive the first turn. Strongest universal Debuff is PWR followed by LUK then ATK. –

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A Creatures falling into A are still wonderful cards to own and they are sometimes only a small step down from S-tier. This is because they may simply not offer as much value overall, may be less durable or have a Creature of the same colour who is stronger overall (as you want to be rainbow for 16x). They may also possess valuable Counter Attack abilities or a valuable Debuff. –

– – B B-tier Creatures may be have some wasted damage via AoE, random targets, or slightly more varied Specials that are approaching a hybrid status (assumes wasted secondary benefits). While these types of Specials are still meaningful, they may require careful planning and execution to use efficiently. However, some of these cards may excel in one role, but they are lacking in every other department and are often vulnerable targets that may require babysitting to survive. They may also require additional support from other members to fully shine. – C Creatures in the C tier tend to be hybrid in nature which means they try to fulfill too many roles without excelling in anything in particular. In addition, C characters may be heavily AoE-oriented which diminishes their potential for damaging a Boss or for sniping a dangerous target in non-Boss waves. Finally, C Creatures may often be quite fragile or only offer modest damage output. – D The D-tier Creatures comprise the weakest Dungeon Offense cards as the do not successfully fulfill any required role. They are often AoE in nature while providing less desired secondary effects. Overall their abilities may be too slow for success in PvP as they may require multiple casts to activate an additional benefit. Damage over time (DoT) abilities may have the highest output, but are not influenced by combo multipliers.

Dungeon Offense Tier List – October 29, 2017 –

S

A

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C *Debut*

D

Changes explained

Colossus A -> S

Colossus is simply the strongest AoE oriented Creature in the game due to the fact that he does full damage to all targets while ignoring defense. This will often result in the entire wave being killed with 4x or 8x combo. This also makes White the strongest colour in the game in terms of highly ranked cards.

Ancient Blue Dragon B -> A

Ancient Blue Dragon was demoted last cycle due to the notion that stun/silence immune Bosses would exist, but that proved to not be the case. In addition, Ancient Blue Dragon can fulfill the strong AoE notion as they can not only remove red threats due to their awakenings (which are bountiful) but can mass stun the Floor 1 to buy you additional time.

Jabberwok and Frost Giant S -> A

Jabberwok was originally planned for stun/silence immune bosses and the ability to heavily debuff them. Sadly, this will not happen for the foreseeable future. Thus, he has been demoted accordingly and may even fall further as his AoE ability tappers down in damage to rapidly to be viable.

Frost Giant is still a great Creature to own, but is not as competitive compared to other options as his single target nuke is not sufficient to remove 1 threat and with the shift to more single target defenders, the counter stun has less merit.

C -> B

Minotaur, Archmage, and Medusa all possess capable AoE abilities that can be combo-ed to either remove several threats or incapacitate the opposing wave. I am particularly interested in Archmage and Minotaur and seeing if they can produce enough damage to remove 3 threats.

One interesting point with Minotaur is that he shares the same colour as Phoenix. This means you can funnel mana into either Creature to counter the given situation. On the other hand, Archmage (still need testing from players who have him heavily awoken) can generate bountiful amounts of mana to his team with a Special cast which could potentially bring everyone up in two turn cycles.

Ifrit C -> B

Ifrit has received further buffs that help bring him on par with the other Genies.

A -> B

All of these creatures have been demoted to reflect the fact that no one fills out 5 dungeons and their debuffing nature is now lackluster.

Vampire A -> B

Vampire was once an S-tier Creature but has steadily fallen since the introduction of Kindoms. This is because his main claim to fame was the ability to one shot mediums and Light Elementals from the old 3-wave dungeons. This led to players funneling mana into him as he could fully heal himself and modestly heal adjacent allies.

Sadly, the HP Shrines outpaces the PWR gains and he can no longer one shot many small Creatures. This when combined with his own fragility reflects his now B rank.

B -> C

All three of these Creatures fail to live up to their former B ranking as they are not viable against floor 1’s.

C -> D

Both Pyrosasourus and Pyromancer have either too low or randomized damage that makes them poor Creatures overall.

Gill Fiend – C debut

Gill Fiend’s mana drain sounds interesting on paper but does not alter the Special casts of defenders who are already que-ed up for their cast. Thus, his fragility and above average damage cannot compensate for this.

New criteria for Defense

Dungeon 2.0 changes how Dungeon Defenders work in that they gain immunity to Stun/Silence until they cast their first Special. This will automatically interrupt any hope of one shotting and grants more reliability. Thus, our choices for Defenders will have to shift as we now can play into the notion that we will have at least one Special landing.

This gives rise to more conditional abilities that require pre-existing conditions to be met as the buff/debuff will be put in place right away. Furthermore, we ideally want to remove as many threats as possible right away so more AOE-oriented Specials (that kill off someone) will become valuable. It is safe to assume that most Creatures will kill their colour counter so we need to look beyond that. Do note that random-target Specials are still less valuable as they will often not do enough damage.

Killing off at least 1 team member can disrupt their combo multiplier, remove their Stun/Silence, or their resurrection ability.

No one is able to feaisbly fill out all 5 dungeons so those above points are just thoughts to consider for the future. In addition, most of the focus is shifted to Floor 1’s and very few fights are won from the Boss floor.

Just bear in mind that a 4-dot Creature will often surpass higher-tiered alternatives with 3-dots. This list assumes all Creatures are 4-dots (which is unrealistic in practice).

Another point to keep in mind is that colour counters are even more effective as a Creature that is weak to another will have a significantly lower chance of landing their debuff statuses along with dealing half damage.

Stun was King

The Stun Meta was one of the least enjoyable mechanics as it was effectively flipping a coin as to whether or no the spawning floor had their Specials up. With the latest patch, Dungeon Defenders are no longer able to chain stun and each attacker will always be able to take at least one action before being stunned again.

This results in an indirect nerf to stun-heavy bosses as their greatest asset is no longer available.

Colour Counters are more meaningful

The latest update has given colour counters even more power when facing what they are effective against as they will be far less likely to become debuffed. What this means is that a Red Boss will be significantly less likely to be stunned by a Green Attacker. This also applies to Boss’s Specials against attackers.

What this means is that the popular meta cards will be able to effecitevly solo what they are effective against. This also means that Bosses that rely on debuffs are going to lose even more ground.

As a result, many bosses that used debuffs are now demoted and in all honesty, Wood bosses are now even more vulnerable to Phoenixes.

With all that being said, White and Black Bosses remain unchanged.

I am well aware that every boss has a counter and can be defeated with specific set ups but there are still some stronger options compared to others.

Dungeon Defense Tier List Criteria –

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S These Creatures compromise the best Dungeon defenders in the current meta. They have the potential to wipe/solo your entire team even if everyone is alive due to their high damage/crowd control/sustain. They become even scarier when missing a team member and you can no longer stun them on your first turn. In addition, they may also have innate tankiness to survive longer and be able to cast additional Special Abilities beyond the first guaranteed one. In addition, they ideally do not rely too heavily on debuffs to succeed. In essence, S-tiered Creatures have the potential to completely turn the tides of battle in their favour which is further amplified by their guaranteed first Special cast. –

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A Creatures that fall into A are still powerful defenders but lack the potential to wipe your team as easily compared to S-tier Creatures. They may struggle against a full roster of Creatures as they may not kill them quickly enough even if able to cast their Special Ability multiple times. However, with your first Special being guaranteed, you are able to wipe out at least 1 team member which dramatically improves your chances of success. –

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B B-tier Creatures are a noticeable step down from A and tend to only succeed when something has already died. This is because their damage is either too low to kill multiple Creatures, they are too squishy, or they are purely Single Target in nature. They may have a certain degree of sustain and be able to absorb large amounts of damage, but without a second Boss, the Attacker will win the long grind as they do not have to have specials for a subsequent Boss floor. –

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C Creatures in the C tier tend to be somewhat lackluster as they often fail to kill something that they are not effective against. They may also be less durable or have random target Specials that further dilute their damage. With that being said, they may still pull off a victory if several members on the Attacker’s team are dead. –

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D The D-tier Creatures comprise the weakest Dungeon Defenders (outside of H-tier) as they are poorly designed for this role. They are often hybrid Creatures that help fulfill an off-healing role, provide supportive buffs, while having some damage output. In addition, other Creatures may be Area of Effect (AoE) in nature that prevents them from killing a single Creature, have random target specials that are only effective if one Creature is left alive, or are DoT in nature. Finally, these Creatures tend to be very flimsy and are often knocked over by a stiff breeze. —

H The H-Tier represents pure healers who have no offensive capabilities. As such, they are the worst possible dungeon defender as they cannot kill anything outside of Basic Attacks.

Dungeon Defense Tier List – October 29, 2017 S

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A *Debut*



B

C

D

H

Changes explained

Cerberus A -> S

Cerberus is truly terrifying if fully awoken as he gains one of the highest damage increasing awakenings. As a result, it is possible for Cerberus to get exceptionally lucky and wipe out an opposing team. However, his potency only increases with every dead Creature on the attacking team as his damage becomes more concentrated and will remove more threats.

Ancient Blue Dragon / Thunder Giant B -> A

I demoted both Ancient Blue Dragon and Thunder Giant down to B from S due to the changes in stun. However, even without the ability to chain stun, their disruption and high damage output still makes them viable defenders.

Sandworm C

Sandworm is the most heavily hit by the stun nerf as he has the lowest stats and damage output. He used to be built around the fact that he can continuously stun an entire team and heal up from each kill, but can no longer chain stun and has an even harder time dealing with Green attackers. While this has no change from last time, I just want to further stress how weak Sandworm has become with these changes and many players now regret the Essences spent in awakening him.

Phoenix – S

Phoenix has always remained an S-tier defender but I want to elaborate why he is the most popular choice at the top of Gold and why I consider him the best overall defender.

Phoenix has the highest consistency as he effectively has double the health of any boss (technically more as overkilling does not eat into the health post Resurrection) while also being able to one shot any Creature (outside of Blue) with their special. Furthermore, they are nearly unkillable if you arrive with some members dead as their massive effective health and self healing will wear you down.

Granted you can cleanse your way to victory, but both Legendary cleansing options for Druid and Kirin are fragile and are often killed due to the popularity of Astral Watcher and Forest Giant and defenders being Black and Red. Siren is a farmable epic, but she will be obliterated by most defenders due to her low durability. Remember, this is assuming you are facing the #1 player in Gold and their highly developed Kingdom.

Perhaps the main saving grace with Phoenix is their weakness to Blue Creatures. With the changes to colour counters, a Phoenix will often miss their burn and subsequently be unable to kill them. However, losing to only 1/6 is a good deal considering Water Legendaries are not well favoured overall. Finally, a Phoenix does not get solo-ed by an attacking Phoenix (which is essentially the only exception as an attacking Phoenix can solo any non-Water Boss).

Building a strong Dungeon Defense

Check out my earlier video on how to build an effective Dungeon Defense for making a strong Floor 1:

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Conclusion

This month’s tier list is heavily influenced by the focus being shifted towards powerful Floor 1 set ups. This has altered previously ranked Creatures as players are not able to feasibly fill out all 5 dungeons.

Let me know what you think about the upcoming changes and how you plan to tackle the new Dungeon Challenge 2.0

Happy Questing!

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