Dungeon Defenders - Tropics of Etheria Nightmare Survival

Why I Farm Tropics of Etheria Survival (wave 22-35, combat ~56m, total ~1h)
Owls and armor and weapons (kinda). Tropics of Etheria has received a loot-quality nerf on Survival Mode to be on-par with 'Coastal Bazaar' as of the v9.4.0 release on May 13, 2024. I can nolonger recommend this map as a viable armor farm map compared to maps like Infested Ruins, Winter Mire, Striking Tree, Magus Citadel, Lover's Paradise, and Spooktacular Bay.

Pets. Mr. Peckers drops on wave 25. He's a colored version of the Arcane Library owl and has better stat rolls. If you are only interested in Mr. Peckers, it is better to intentionally farm him starting at wave 23. You could farm 10 runs of Mr. Peckers in the same time as 1 22-35 survival run. Polly drops on wave 30, and Beach Island drops on wave 35. Polly is the same as the Buccaneer Bay Polly, and honestly, there are better DPS pets to farm. Beach Island... Well, I'm not sure what the Island's use will be ATM.

Weapons. The four weapons that drop on this map are clones of the Mischief Maker (Poly, monk), Krakken Kannon (Poly, Huntress), MoonStaff (App, HI), and the Calamity Blade (Squire, TI). Even though these weapons roll with 10% less damage and 20% fewer stats, they are still worth farming and using as you grind your way to those harder DPS maps.

This video is made for myself to reference as I often forget builds. I do take my time so that I can actually see what I'm doing. This is the build that I use that is a variation of ryanelks, a better, faster, and more skilled player than me. Lastly, the build does use tower stacking. A link to a video on setting up tower stacking is below in the description.

Link to build I posted: https://dundefplanner.com/map.php?loa...


Timestamps
00:00 - Wave 22 Build
03:08 - Wave 22 Start
06:43 - Wave 23
10:19 - Wave 24
14:03 - Wave 25 (Mr. Peckers Pet Reward)
17:47 - Wave 26
21:28 - Wave 27
25:13 - Wave 28
28:59 - Wave 29
32:50 - Wave 30 (Polly Pet Reward)
36:53 - Wave 31
41:37 - Wave 32
46:02 - Wave 33
50:09 - Wave 34
54:46 - Wave 35 (Beach Island Pet Reward)
01:01:23 - Item Box
01:01:53 - Completion Times and Tower Stats
01:02:28 - Hero Stats


The stats I have in the video aren't hard requirements as this map can be completed with lower stats.

What’s Needed for Build (150/150 DU | 0/150 MU)
• Builders
• Apprentice - 6k dmg
• Monk - 6k range
• Hermit - 6k dmg
• Series EV - 6k dmg
• Heroes During Waves
• 2 Guardian Summoners with Huntress/Monk Guardians
• Heroes On Last Wave
• 2 Guardian Summoners with Huntress/Monk Guardians
• 1 Guardian Summoners with App/App Guardians
• 1 Guardian Summoners with App/Huntress Guardians

Survival Notes
• Open chests each wave. This should be done during combat for more efficient timing but can also be done between waves
• Bring out additional Summoners during waves 24, 29, and before wave 35.


Tower Stacking Instructions
   • Installing Tower Stacking Script - Du...  

Things that can help new and old players:
1.) I'd watch this guide from Retro Pat:    • 33 TIPS FOR NEW PLAYERS IN DUNGEON DE...  
It's a great summary of things a lot of new players would miss. The comments are worth reading as well and are mostly from extremely active members of the DDRnG discord group.

2.) I'd join the DDRnG Discord. It's a great place to learn from, ask questions, and find others willing to help run maps if needed.   / discord  

3.) Chiku's 0 to Early late-game Progression Guide 2023: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...
This guide is THE roadmap to help new players navigate the massive amount of content.

4.) If you don't have the game, buy the Ultimate Edition as well as the Hermit DLC. The Hermit DLC was introduced in the summer of 2023 and is not included in the ultimate edition of the game. Hermit is a great character, and many of his towers have uses on almost every map.

5.) General Best In Slot Guide for Newcomers: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
This is a great cheat sheet on what's generally considered best for each hero and each type of hero.

6.) Dungeon Defender Map Planner: https://dundefplanner.com/list.php
A repository of builds other players have created and used to play and farm maps.