PTR Patch 12/28/25

Hey Defenders,

Thank you again for all the feedback and support you’ve been giving us on PTR, it’s been a huge help. This update focuses on making tower weapons feel more exciting, tightening up fused accessory rewards, and cleaning up a bunch of pet, rune, and Pure Strategy issues that you all helped surface, and we’re on track to bring these PTR changes to the live branch before the new year as long as everything stays stable and the feedback continues to look good

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TOWER WEAPON CHANGES

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We heard the feedback that tower weapons didn’t feel “special” enough, and that they needed more tower-focused power. This update pushes them further in that direction.

General changes

• Tower weapon stat rolls have been updated (drop locations have not changed).

• Tower weapons now drop in all difficulties, in both Rift and non-Rift.

• Non-fused tower weapons can drop in Rift mode.

• Non-fused tower weapons now drop after completing Wave 15, with or without the Hardcore toggle.

• Fused tower weapons now drop after completing Wave 15, with or without the Hardcore toggle.

• Tower weapons now have their own passive pool, separate from normal weapon passives.

Tower weapon passive pool (from screenshot)

Passive Name   | Passive Weight (higher = more common)

% Dmg          | 60

Tower Dmg      | 375

Tower Health   | 375

Tower Range    | 375

Tower Speed    | 375

MP Regen      | 60

Move Speed    | 60

Cast Rate     | 375

Updated tower weapon rolls (drop locations unchanged)

Squire – Swords

Non-fused

1. Comically Large Sword

   Main stat: Tower Health

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Tower Speed (0.9), Tower Health (0.9)

   Drops: Magus Quarters

2. Red Saber

   Main stat: Tower Damage

   Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)

   Drops: Deeper Well

3. Spireblade

   Main stat: Tower Speed

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)

   Drops: Throne Room

4. Crystal Shard

   Main stat: Tower Damage

   Rolls with: Tower Health (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)

   Drops: Royal Gardens

5. Oakheart

   Main stat: Tower Range

   Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)

   Drops: The Mill

Fused

1. Fidget Spinner

   Main stat: Tower Damage

   Rolls with: Tower Health (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)

   Drops: Deeper Well

2. Fused Saber

   Main stat: Tower Health

   Rolls with: Hero Health (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)

   Drops: Magus Quarters

3. Fused Spireblade

   Main stat: Tower Speed

   Rolls with: Tower Health (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)

   Drops: Endless Spires

4. Fused Oakheart

   Main stat: Tower Range

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Range (0.9)

   Drops: Promenade

5. Fused Crystal Shard

   Main stat: Tower Damage

   Rolls with: Tower Speed (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)

   Drops: The Outpost

Apprentice – Staves

Non-fused

1. Comically Large Tower Staff

   Main stat: Tower Damage

   Rolls with: Tower Health (0.9), Tower Speed (0.9), Tower Damage (0.9)

   Drops: Glitterhelm

2. Bone Chill

   Main stat: Tower Damage

   Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)

   Drops: Ancient Mines

3. Tsuda’s Final Creation

   Main stat: Tower Speed

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)

   Drops: The Outpost

4. Scarlet Prism

   Main stat: Tower Health

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)

   Drops: The Ramparts

5. Oakshade

   Main stat: Tower Range

   Rolls with: Tower Speed, Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Range (0.9)

   Drops: Arcane Library

Fused

1. Spellbinder

   Main stat: Tower Damage

   Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)

   Drops: Ancient Mines

2. Ion Channel

   Main stat: Tower Speed

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)

   Drops: Tornado Valley

3. Astralune

   Main stat: Tower Health

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)

   Drops: Throne Room

4. Fused Oakshade

   Main stat: Tower Range

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Range(0.9)

   Drops: Summit

5. Fused Crystal Staff

   Main stat: Tower Damage

   Rolls with: Tower Speed (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)

   Drops: The Bazaar

Monk – Polearms

Non-fused

1. Comically Large Tower Polearm

   Main stat: Tower Range

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Tower Health (0.9), Tower Range (0.9)

2. Red Twin-Saber

   Main stat: Tower Health

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)

   Drops: Lava Mines

3. Crystal Polearm

   Main stat: Tower Speed

   Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.5)

   Drops: Tornado Highlands

4. Talonheart

   Main stat: Tower Health

   Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)

   Drops: Summit

5. Ankhfeather

   Main stat: Tower Damage

   Rolls with: Tower Speed (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)

   Drops: Forsaken Temple

Fused

1. Fused Crystal Polearm

   Main stat: Tower Speed

   Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)

   Drops: Lava Mines

2. Fused Twin-Saber

   Main stat: Tower Range

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Range (0.9)

   Drops: Tornado Highlands

3. Fused Oakspike

   Main stat: Tower Range

   Rolls with: Tower Health (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Range (0.9)

   Drops: Arcane Library

4. Fused Warfang

   Main stat: Tower Health

   Rolls with: Tower Damage(0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)

   Drops: Forges and Foundries

5. Fused Thrustworthy

   Main stat: Tower Damage

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)

   Drops: Glitterhelm

Huntress – Crossbows

Non-fused

1. Comically Large Tower Bow

   Main stat: Tower Speed

   Rolls with: Tower Health (0.9), Tower Range (0.9), Tower Speed (0.9)

   Drops: Endless Spires

2. Hen Blaster 9000

   Main stat: Tower Speed

   Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)

   Drops: Tornado Valley

3. Wyrmbolt

   Main stat: Tower Damage

   Rolls with: Tower Speed (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)

   Drops: Alchemical Laboratory

4. Crystal Bow

   Main stat: Tower Health

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)

   Drops: The Keep

5. Fragmenter

   Main stat: Tower Range

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Range (0.9)

   Drops: Promenade

Fused

1. Fused Massfire

   Main stat: Tower Speed

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)

   Drops: Alchemical Laboratory

2. Fused Scorcher

   Main stat: Tower Speed

   Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Speed (0.9)

   Drops: Throne Ramparts

3. Fused Paintstorm

   Main stat: Tower Damage

   Rolls with: Tower Health (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Damage (0.9)

   Drops: Royal Gardens

4. Fused Oakbolt

   Main stat: Tower Health

   Rolls with: Tower Range (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Health (0.9)

   Drops: The Mill

5. Fused Crystal Bow

   Main stat: Tower Range

   Rolls with: Tower Damage (0.9), Hero Ability (1.5), Tower Range (0.9)

   Drops: The Keep

Extra drop notes

• Lost Metropolis drops a random staff.

• The Bazaar drops a random polearm.

• King’s Game drops a random Huntress weapon.

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FUSED ACCESSORY CHANGES

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• Fused accessories now have their own passive pool.

• Fused accessories now drop upon completing Wave 15, with or without the Hardcore toggle.

• Fused Seal of the Forsaken is now properly classified as a brooch (same for the normal version).

• Note: Fused accessories are exclusive to Massacre difficulty.

Fused accessory passive pool (from screenshot)

Passive Name      | Passive Weight (higher = more common)

% Dmg (Repair)        | 60

MP Regen          | 33

Move Speed        | 33

% Armor (Repair)      | 60

% Armor (Upgrade)     | 60

% Dmg (Upgrade)       | 60

HP Regen          | 33

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PET CHANGES

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General

• All tower stats on tower pets have had their scalars increased to 1.0 (any tower pet below 1.0 was raised to 1.0).

Tower Giraffe on a Treadmill

• Versatility is now 10%.

• Casting Rate is now 25%.

• Now properly drops on completion of all maps in Pure Strategy.

Tower Dice

• All variants now have 25% Move Speed.

Tower Fairy

• All variants now have 30% Cast Rate.

Tower Genie

• All variants now have 15% Versatility.

Tower Griffin

• All variants now have 15% Versatility.

Tower Prop Cat

• All variants now have 30% Cast Rate.

Tower Steam Robot

• All variants now have 15% Versatility.

Tower Raging Zeus

• All variants now have 25% Move Speed.

Tower Demi-Demon Lord

• All variants now have 15% Versatility.

Tower Ancient Baby Dragon

• All variants now have 30% Cast Rate.

Tower Etherian Ancient

• All variants now have 15% Versatility.

Tower Hammel

• All variants now have 25% Move Speed.

Tower Happy Hera

• All variants now have 30% Cast Rate.

Tower Little Wizard

• All variants now have 15% Versatility.

Tower Lycan Prince

• All variants now have 25% Move Speed.

Tower Mega Chicken

• All variants now have 30% Cast Rate.

Tower Monkey King

• All variants now have 15% Versatility.

Tower Paddle Ball

• All variants now have 25% Move Speed.

Tower Chargin’ Ramster

• All variants now have 30% Cast Rate.

Tower Yellow Ramster Can

• All variants now have 15% Versatility.

Tower Zephyr

• All variants now have 15% Versatility.

Crystal Core

• All variants are now sellable.

• Regular variant rolls with: Tower Damage (1.0), Tower Health (1.0), Hero Ability (1.5). Main stat is Tower Damage.

• Fused variant rolls with: Tower Health (1.0), Tower Damage (1.0), Hero Ability (1.5). No main stat.

• Gold variant rolls with: Tower Health (1.0), Tower Damage (1.5), Hero Ability (1.5). No main stat.

Fused Mista Mine

• Fused Mista Mine no longer has double names.

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RUNE UPDATES

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• Yuletide Village Campaign now properly drops its collection of runes.

• King’s Game Campaign now properly drops its collection of runes.

• Nightmare rune quality should now drop lower-level runes more frequently.

• Quick note: we’ve made major progress tracking down the “rune crash” dropping from enemies, but it needs a bit more time to dial in. That fix will come after the big patch we’ve been working on all month goes live.

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PURE STRATEGY UPDATES

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• All difficulties now correctly scale up when Hardcore and Rift Mode are enabled.

• The Wave Chest in Pure Strategy (with Hardcore and a Bonus Difficulty) now correctly spawns a Hardcore chest, instead of spawning the Hardcore Bonus Wave chests and accidentally awarding extra map-specific rewards.

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CONCLUSION

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That’s the big PTR pass for this update: tower weapons should feel stronger and more unique, fused accessories should be cleaner and more consistent, tower pets got a big sweep to bring their tower scaling up, and we’ve fixed up several drops and reward issues in Campaign and Pure Strategy. As always, thank you for testing, sharing builds, and calling out what feels good (and what doesn’t). We genuinely wouldn’t be here without you. If you want to stay involved, come hang out with us in the official Discord (it’s the best place to share feedback and talk shop with other Defenders). And if you’d like to support the game, please consider checking out our cosmetic DLC on Steam.

See you on the PTR, and happy defending.