Mischief has done it again and released part 2 of the Crystalline Dimension Survival map. If you thought the first one was hard, well then you better bring your “A” game to this map. As the author puts it, “This should be a decent challenge to those who can complete King’s Game NMHCMM consistently, and have 3k+ stats on all builders/DPS.” This map also supports 6 players so bring your friends along for the adventure. For those who are not sure if they should take on the challenge, you do get some help. The map is naturally symmetrical and because of that, Mischief decided to add 5 DU for a total of 180 that will go into helping you created a stronger and more dependable build. Good luck!

We highly suggest you subscribe to this map and try it out. Mischief appreciates any feedback you may have on it , so feel free to leave your thoughts, comments, and suggestions on the Steam Workshop page.

Here at Trendy we have learned to fear and appreciate the wonders of the Crystalline Dimension. Its beauty is only matched by its attempt to crush your heroes. Once you free your parents and defeat the Ultimate Evil, what then?

Map maker Mischief decided to take things up to 11 and remake Crystalline Dimension into a survival format. As the author states, it’s hard, but not impossible. I soon learned that I could not complete this map solo so bring some friends along when attempting to take on this challenge. Mischief also says that this map allows for 6 players, which will be useful in getting through the waves.

Although I died many, MANY times, I had lots of fun and I looked forward to playing it with other people. I suggest adventure seekers to subscribe to the map and try it out for yourself. Bring along some friends and leave some comments/suggestions on the Steam Workshop page so that Mischief can continue to improve upon it.

Step into this spooky map and defend the crystals until you take your last breath. Once you enter the graveyard, you can feel the souls of the forgotten crying for help. Intruders have stormed their territory. Ogres and all sorts of enemies are determined to keep the dead from resting in peace.

This map has several paths and routes that contribute to the flow of the level. The mist and the candle lit pumpkins add to the atmosphere along with the various tombstones. Overall it does an excellent job at transporting you to a graveyard on the outskirts of Etheria.

Map creator iNeRtia has certainly created an entertaining map that will keep you on your toes. The map author has managed to create a map that is both fun and beautiful. If you haven’t tried it out yet, I highly recommend you do. Subscribe to the map and try it out for yourself.


Our Map Contest is coming to an end, so we wanted to shine the spotlight on the other maps that we haven’t shown. There’s still plenty of time left to vote, so click on the images and cast your votes!

Hero Temple
Author: ConverseBob
Description: “This monument was once a sacred place built to honor the triumphs of the Legendary Heroes. As the fight for Etheria rages on, even this ceremonial meeting place has become a site for battle. Defend this temple in the name of the Legendary Heroes for whom it was built.”

Hogwarts-like stairs crawl down the sides of this golden temple. Creeps spawn at the top of the stairs. Protip: Leave them a few gifts at the foot of the stairs. Creeps love gifts.

Protect the crystal in the middle of the map to win. This map is perfect for solo players, though larger groups may find themselves wanting more of a challenge. Click the image above to try it out.

Etheria Triangle
Author: black-dragon131
Description: “In the wide ocean is a mystical place called the Etheria Triangle. Many ships got lost there, as did our hero’s ship. Can you help them to escape?”

Black-dragon131 left out the best part of this map in the description: phase light changing. When the Combat Phase starts, the light goes out. You and up to three of your friends must fight in the night to kill the creeps. When the Build Phase begins again, the sky grows lighter, and it’s back to building in the sunshine.

Protect the single crystal in the middle to save the day. Despite the single crystal, the large space was great for groups. Click the image above to check it out.

Astronomers Tower
Author: DwightCornel
Description: “The old king hid in his mountain keep and ruled the skies with its thousands bright lights. He stared at his stars in search of the answer to finally put a stop to the Old Ones. For all his waiting, the keep fell before the stars replied.”

Want an asymmetric level? Astronomers Tower is your map.

When we played this on our Trendy Friday Fun last week, we marveled at the unique layout. Most Dungeon Defenders maps are symmetric and relatively easy to build. Not so with this map. The unusual design lends to some experimentation with building, which is one of my favorite things to do in our game.

Click the image and go experiment.

Magic Platform Assault
Author: Commish
Description: “Have patience with this one — it can be hilarious to walk several new people through this map since it requires cooperation, speed and also turkey-dodging skills.”

Finally, a custom Assault map!

I’ve been waiting for a map like this, and what better time to get one than in our Map Contest. This map is certainly not a looker, but what it lacks in visual panache, it makes up for in style. Magic Platform Assault is broken down into separate floating islands. Some of these islands contain crystal cores. Destroy these cores to win.

But how do you get to these islands? Why, by magic platforms, of course. We had a blast trying to complete this on our Trendy Friday Fun. Commish, no matter the outcome of the contest, please keep making more assault maps.

The Clock Tower
Author: Sam

Set inside a giant clock tower, this aptly named map sets one enemy spawn against one Eternia Crystal. It’s a work-in-progress map, and what was made before the deadline is a great start. We’d like to see a bit more variety in spawns, but should this map win our contest, that’s something we could do ourselves. Either way, Sam, keep up the great work.

Brightlow Outpost
Author: Encefal
Description: “Once the place where kings and heroes alike would stop for the night on their way to the Castle, now invaded by hordes of horrible monsters seeking to unleash the horrors trapped in the Eternia Crystals and kill the mysterious hero trapped in the tavern while YOU and your mates are holding off the monsters.”

We had trouble opening this map, which is a known issue. From the screenshots, it’s a hauntingly gorgeous map. If you read this, Encefal, send us an email to contest@trendyent.com, and we’ll see what we can do.

Basement Death Match
Author: Macc the Cheesemage
Description: “Have you ever wanted to prove you have the best DPS character in all of Etheria? Do you hate how towers and minions get in the way of normal PvP matches? Guess what, bucko? Your problems are solved! In Basement Death Match, it’s just you and up to three opponents in a battle to the death! No towers. No minions. No mercy. Just death!”

Fight against friends and foes in this ultimate PvP arena. Beware of the Lava Spike Pit! This is perfect for PvP lovers who hate having to fight both minions and people. This is the purest of the pure.

And here are the other maps in our contest:

Library of the Ancients
Yar Har Fiddle De Dee
Gallowmere
Tower Wars Mistymire Valley
Mystywind Falls
Akatiti
Defend Paradise Joy Map
The Sewerage
The Arcane Vault

There’s more to The Arcane Vault than meets the eye.

Shisko2k invested a staggering amount of work into this bone-shaped map. On both sides of the map are glittering caverns. Each cavern houses an Eternia Crystal to defend. Dividing the two caverns is an open-aired circular courtyard. This is where the bulk of the action happens, with Ogres pouring out from the spawns. High above the sunny courtyard looms an evil presence who makes himself known in the Boss Wave.

Dotted around the map are crystals of three colors: red, blue and yellow. Red represents Life Force (healing and damage output), blue represents Physical Force (damage through gravitational pulses) and Yellow represents Dimensional Force (time-space distortions). You can harness the energy of each crystal by one of two methods. The first method is to extract its power, which takes about 20 seconds. The second method is to combine your current crystal power with another power. The list of crystal combinations is impressive. I highly recommend that you read his official thread for all of the details.

In short, this is one of the most creative maps I’ve seen on our Steam Workshop, and I haven’t even detailed the boss fight. Subscribe to the map and try it out for yourself. And be sure to vote for the Map Contest map you’d like to see placed into our Ranked mode!

Here’s a side of Etheria you haven’t seen before.

The Sewerage by TF Pickle ventures to the disgusting yet necessary underworld of Etherian society. This one-crystal map would fit perfectly in the Area 1 section of Dungeon Defenders.

The Sewerage is deceptively simple. There are five entrances to the crystal — three sewer tunnels to the east, one tunnel to the south and a larger open area to the north. I thought a simple blockade and harpoon/bowling ball turret on each entrance would suffice.

It did until the Kobold arrived.

In the middle of the game, a Kobold lit himself on fire and blew a hole in the ceiling near the crystal. Frantically, I ran to the crystal and killed the flood of creeps pouring in from above. My defenses slowly whittled away, but I couldn’t leave the giant hole of death alone. Thankfully, my blockades held strong. I switched to my monk and dropped an Ensnare aura near the ceiling hole and two harpoons near the crystal. From then on, it was smooth sailing apart from the steady stream of Ogres at the north entrance.

For one to two players, this is right up your alley, though it’s a bit too small for larger groups. A DPS character would be wise to have on this map.

Be sure to subscribe to this map and share your feedback on Pickle’s Workshop page.

Check out the other map entries in our Dungeon Defenders Map Contest! The submission deadline for the contest is Oct. 31. For full contest rules and details, head to our official Map Contest post.

Get medieval in Gallowmere — just in time for Halloween.

Besides being a contest map, what exactly is Gallowmere? Here’s the description from julianprokop’s Workshop page:

“Welcome to Gallowmere, an ancient temple rediscovered in a distant land. The excavators have all abandoned this place. But why? Is there a curse upon this place? Perhaps there is treasure! Tread lightly brave defenders for there are many traps in Gallowmere. Some will aid you in your fight and others, well, they may just kill you. Be wary of your defenses, too! You can hear the Kobolds clawing in the tombs…”

This four-to-six player map contains three crystals to defend. The author added Siegebreaker waves designed to break your defenses and keep you on your toes. The visual design is similar to his previous map, Forgotten Graveyard, which was created for our last map contest. This map addresses the main issues with his last map, particularly the lack of obstacles that made traversing Forgotten Graveyard a bit of a chore.

Subscribe to the map and try it out for yourself!

Remember, the deadline for map contest submissions is October 31.

As a wise woman once said, “Don’t go chasing waterfalls. Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to.”

Nexus thankfully didn’t heed this sage advice. Mystywind Falls is a gorgeous two-crystal map. According to Nexus’s forum post, the goal with the map was to create a new location similar to the play style of Deeper Well while adding a second core to defend. It sounds like the perfect map for solo players wanting an accessible challenge.

Subscribe to his map, give it a few test runs and leave your feedback on his Workshop page.

There’s still three weeks left to make your own map for our contest. Winners will receive cash prizes and a beta key to our next project. We’ll also hand out a few beta keys to honorable mentions, so if you want one, whip up a map! For the full list of contest rules and details, head to our official contest thread.