I lost so many hours to Dungeon Defenders back in the early 2010s. Its blend of class-based action-RPG combat with the ability to place down defensive traps and turrets made it one of the best co-op games, and it ruled the wave survival genre alongside the likes of Orcs Must Die and those early days of Call of Duty Zombies. Now, as it nears its twelfth birthday, Dungeon Defenders is adding a brand new class, as a special gift from the devs to its still-active community.
But wait, I hear you cry, isn’t its sequel Dungeon Defenders 2, which itself came out in 2017, a free game? It is indeed, so why is developer Chromatic Games revisiting the original? “Well, to put it simply,” Nolan ‘Paimon’ from Chromatic says, “we are a bunch of Dungeon Defenders fans internally as well! After all this time, the game continues to have a high player concurrency and active community.”
As a way of saying thanks, the team “wanted to help that wonderful community by breathing more life into the game, with hopes that the community and the community-made content will continue to flourish.” Enter the Hermit, then – a hero who harnesses the forces of nature, and who was designed “to bring viability and variety to the poison element within the game.”
The Hermit’s poisons vary in their effects – some cause enemies that die to them to explode, while others create an infection that spreads between nearby foes. The Hermit can summon a Forest Golem that deals huge damage while also passively healing allies that stand nearby, while the Nature Pylon buffs both defenses and heroes that are within its range.
It’s really cool to see developers revisit old games in their catalog, especially when it’s to provide a little love to the players who have stuck around years after the original release. You can see the Hermit’s full abilities below, and can also grab Dungeon Defenders for 50% off (a deal that also extends to its four-game bundle for you and your friends) as part of the ongoing Steam summer sale deals.
Dungeon Defenders – The Hermit
Abilities
- Thorn Shot – Shoots 5 poisonous thorns in a spread pattern that pass through enemies!
- Nature’s Gift – Increases speed, restores health, and adds poison damage to the Hermit’s attacks!
Defenses
- Seed Bomb Tower (4DU) – Blasts enemies in a wide radius and poisons them. Enemies who are felled by this poison explode!
- Mushroom Spore Tower (6DU) – Launches poisonous spores at enemies, infecting them. Infected enemies spread the infection to other foes nearby.
- Forest Golem (8DU) – Possessing colossal health and attack power, this guardian of the forest passively heals nearby allies.
- Nature Pylon (4DU) – Greatly increases range and resistance of all nearby Defenses, and increases speed and casting rate of nearby Heroes!
- Wall of Webs (2-4DU, min to max range) – Damages and webs enemies that pass through it, reducing their speed and resistances.
The Hermit hero is available on Steam, with a 10% introductory discount. It arrives alongside Dungeon Defenders update 9.2.0, which also adds a new Lifestream Hollow map along with a lengthy list of balance changes.
We’ve got plenty more of the best classic PC games that you should still check out in 2023, or perhaps you’ll be interested in the best survival games if you love fighting against all odds.