If you are having problems with any of these steps, there are a couple things you can do. The first, easiest, but worst way to get help is to make a public game and try to get help. This can take awhile and be unreliable. The best ways to get help are either send me a message, asking for help, or through the DDFRBR group chat. http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/gid/103582791434751458 Just join the group and group chat and ask for help. Make sure to read the rules before you join though. There are many people, including me, there who are willing and glad to help with you with whatever you need. Runs of challenging maps, plenty of advice, and sometimes people will just give stuff to whoever wants it!

This section may get a bit listy, and not really in and order,but important so read please.

If you are having trouble getting your NM build done in the timelimit, practice it on Hard until you are a master at it.


The Community is a great resource, tap into it through all the other guides.


Never upgrade an Obsidian Sparus into ranged damage.


Never try to get help from me if you have hacked items.


No, I can't beat The greater turkey hunt for you.


No, I probably won't give you coal, but if you want something ask nicely.


Feel free to ask me questions or point our errors either through comments or messages.

(NOTE: This Guide is assuming you have DLC)
The first thing you should do is go through and beat the whole campaign through The Summit, on either medium or hard. I would reccomend you start out with a squire/countess (Countess is reccomended because of higher movement speed) and have that be what you use up until this point. Once you have done that, grind your Squire on The Ramparts on hard, until you get to about Level 70.
At this point, you can do one of two things. What I reccomend is to try and beat Ramparts insane. If you can, grind for some good gear there. Once you have that, Level All your other characters to 70. This could take a while. Once you have done that, you can then do Gltterhelm on Insane, which is awesome XP. Get everyone to 74, then move onto to the other path, which is now much easier. The other path is to get your squire to 74. This is what I would reccomend. Once he(r) is 74, it's is time to do some Nightmare Mode! Sounds fun, right? Fow now, no. The next era of your life will be doing the first wave of Endless Spires NMHC (Nightmare Hardcore). The idea is to beat first wave, then open chests, then restart. Eventually, you will have a armor set, and a weapon, Your stats should be about 1000 tower damage, and around 500 for ther three tower stats.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuktTpiQnDg

So now you have completed your Endless Spires Farming! Congratulations! It's now time to move onto Mistymire forest. Its kind of the same idea as with endless spires, except this time, you should go as far as you can. Just make sure you get all those chests! That's where the best loot is. It is not a bad thing if you can't make it to boss, just keep getting better and better gear so you can get farther and farther. Once you have done that, and gotten about 1.5k stats on your builders and a good DPS character, you have more choices.
The first one is Lab Assault. To do this, I would reccomend a BF drill, from Volcanic eruption. But those are hard to get. even on Insane. So if you can't get a drill, then I would reccomend the Crystal Tracker, from Warping Core NMHC. Also, you need another weapon. While any decent mage weapon will work, I would reccomend the reward from Raining Goblins. Once you have a good Drill/Tracker, watch this video Even though the Video is on NM, the guide works for Insane and below. Even the rewards from medium can be good. If you can't tell what is going on in video, I will explain. The person in the video is abusing the EV's terrible AI, making it jump off teh side of the map, to its death. In NM, this is basically the only way. But if your doing insane or below, I would reccomend you just try to straight up kill them with your mage weapon. It should be faster and easier. On Insane, you can get some great loot.
The Second Path is Mistymire NMHCMM survival. Be warned, this is a long path, but it will get you the best gear. Follow this video and you should have no issues. The final path might be the best. It is farming NMHC Skycity. With the aggro build, , you will have no issues. I would reccomend killing the boss but it isnt necessary. Here is how I would reccomend you kill the boss. Here is what you need: A jester, a fast firing huntress weapon, and a ranged DPS pet. The boss isn't much of an Issue through the No return Method. http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/app/65800/guides/?searchText=Goblin+Battlecruiser+%28Sky+City%29+%3A+The+No-Return+Method&browsefilter=trend&browsesort=creationorder&requiredtags%5B%5D=-1#scrollTop=950 Through this, not only will you get good Mythicals, but also great Weapons for killing boss, which can sell for billions of mana, coal, or in saome cases cubes.

There are many ways to acquire a capping Trans Set. First, I will go over what a capping trans set is. A capping Trans set is 4 pieces of Trans armor that is made out of the same material, (Leather, Mail, Chain, Plate, or Pristine). Each armour piece will have 420 in tower damage (559 with set bonus) and at least 150 in each of the other Tower stats. (Note that is assuming its Upgraded). I have a saying for how to get a capping trans set, and it goes as follows: "Cube it, Buy It, Farm it". Here is what all of those mean.
Cube it: The absolute easiest way to get a set. Here's how. When we say cube it, what we mean is buy it with a Cube, or Companion cube. Cubes are worth about 56-70 billion mana, or 4-5 coals. They way to accquire a cube is by completing all the original challenges. (Note this can be only be completed once per account). That means No towers Allowed through Monster Fest. If you have trouble feel free to message me and I can give you a few pointers or even help you beat it.
The second best way is to buy it. Just refer back to the previous section about sky city. Sometimes, the rewards you get from that map can be sold for multiple cubes! (Normally the Steam saw, but sometimes the Monk wrench and Krytikal Stryke). Just make sure you don't get ripped off. If you are ever worried about whether or not something is a good deal, either message me or use the DDFRBR group chat, and just ask what somehting is worth.
The last way, and longest, is to farm it through survival. I would reccomend Aquanos NMHCMM, but in general this method requires you to already be wearing a Trans set on multiple builders.

The best weapons for each class can be contriversial, but I will try my best.

For squire, tower or dps, I would reccomend either Obsidian Gladius or Steam saw. Yes the Eternian Greatsword is great and all, but it is a waste of time to farm a good one. The Gladius is acquired through Akatit Jungle NMHC, and the Steam saw Sky City NMHC. (Note for Akatiti Jungle, the class you are on does not effect what type of weapon. ex You are on Squire and get Obsidian Sparus)


Apprentice Tower: Obsidian Clava, through Akatiti Jungle NMHC
Apprentice DPS*: Eagle Crested Standard, through Boss Rush NMHC (Again reward for boss rush is independant from the class you are on)
Pro Tip: The Bloodshoot Staff: A great DPS mage staff, but hard to get. Here is a in depth guide on it http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/app/65800/guides/?searchText=Bloodshot+guide&brow


Monk Tower: Obsidian Sparus from Akatiti Jungle
Monk DPS: Obsidian Sparus (MELEE) Eternian Spear (MELEE) Monk Wrench (MELEE/RANGED)
Eternian Spear is a viable choice, from Crystalline Dimension, but hard to Farm. Monk wrench is a great one, because it is easy to obtain.(Sky City NMHC)


Huntress Tower: Pawnshot (Kings Game NMHC)
Huntress DPS*: Blaster Rifle (Tink's Lab NMHC) Pawnshot (Kings Game NMHC) Eternia Cannon (Crystalline NMHC)
The huntress weapons are incredibly hard to farm, so here is what I would reccomend. The Krtikal Stryke from Sky City NMHC can be either DPS or Tower


EV Tower: Obsidian Clava (Akatiti Jungle NMHC)
EV DPS*: Blaster Rifle (Tink's Lab NMHC) Eagle Crested Standard (Boss Rush) Pawn Shot (Kings Game NMHC) Eternia Cannon (Crystalline Dimension NMHC)


Barbarian DPS: Obsidian Gladius (Aktiti NMHC) Steam Saw (Sky City NMHC) Eternian Greatsword (Crystalline Dimension NMHC)


Jester DPS: Eagle Crested Standard (Boss Rush NMHC) Bloodshot (Morrago Desert town NMHC(MM)) Blaster Rife (Tinks Lab NMHC) Eternia Cannon (Crystalline Dimension NMHC)
Some extra things about Jester. The Jester can hold two weapons. So I reccomend one DPS weapon, and one weapon you don't use that gives you good hero stats. Also, a lupine bow and a genie is a mean combo to get large amounts of mana for upgrading. Finally, about the Jesters ability, Wheel of Fortuna, which is bad a first sight, but actually the best thing ever. If you roll 3 health pots, no only do you heal all you teamates, but also all the defenses. And the Sword, Sword, and Light Blue eternia crystal will Kill a % of enemies. A must for survival.


Summoner Nothing available


* means the class for that Spec is not reccomended

Tower Pets: The Kobold on a treadmill is a great tower pet. It can have 600 in all tower stats. It is acquired from Tavern Defense Survival Wave 35. But this time, it it best to do it on Insane HC MM.
The Diamond. The PInnacle of tower pets. The best of the best. It can have 800 in some tower stats, and others in 700. It also gives you a large speed boost. It is a acquired by gathering 88 coal. Coal is acquired through either Silent Night NMHC, or preferably Winter Wonderland NMHC

DPS Pets. Every Class except Barbarian: The Mega chicken is the best DPS pet. It is gotten from Tinks lab wave 35 survival. You should do this on Insane. The seahorse is the next best. It is gotten from Aquanos Survival Wave 20. NMHCMM recomended, but Insane is good too.

Barbarian: The propeller cat, from Sky city NMHCMM Survival wave 25, boosts your damage a great amount. A great combo with the Barbarian's Hawk Stance.

The best place I have found for getting Supreme-Ult++ armour is Kings game NMHCMM. It is quite tough, so make sure you are prepared. Another place is Lab assault NMHC. Just follow the earlier guide exactly as he did it, and have close to his gear and stats.

Accessories are best farmed through Lab assault NMHC. You get about 2 Accessories everytime you beat the map, often supreme. Another place for accessories is Temple of Love, but I dont reccomend that becasue that map is the worst, and it will suck the life and happinesss out of your soul.

Ugh, the event items. about 75% of the Event items are hacked/duped. If you are going to buy them, you are going to need alot of cubes. When buying an Event Item, make sure the Seller has a trace, or it is most likely duplicated. If you are going to buy them, here are the ones I reccomend, in this order. Rainmaker is the best, followed by Mana master, Glaciers Demise, Vamps Delight, Aladins Wish, Boneyard Blade, and Celebration. All of those listed are extremely overpowered.

While Dungeon Defenders is very grindy, it is a great game. If you are having and trouble, follow this guide and you will be a Master of Etheria in no time! Have fun defenders!