Apologize in advance for a lengthy read.

Was discussing with a friend regarding the general "lack" of endgame to DD2. Putting aside the DD1 vs DD2 arguments - and we all know DD2 needs a lot of work, before adding more content, wanted to share a great idea that (hopefully) brings some good ideas to the future growth of DD2.


For those who grew up in the golden era of WC3 custom maps, you'll probably remember maps such as HERO LINE WARS or CASTLE FIGHT.

While I don't believe DD2 is the type of game to have straight up PvP combat - the style does allow for something akin to Castle Fight.


Imagine a map where two teams compete by sending "Waves" of minions (goblins, spear throwers, ogres, whatever) at your opponent's side. You get to pick what to send. Each round, you choose what to send from a wide selection ranging from mundane minions to named bosses (Malthius, Tuskarr, Etc.). This doesn't seem too hard to implement - at the start of each round, lets say you get a set amount of income - and each type of minion costs a different amount. Goblins and such would be cheap (Can do something like a "horde" of 100 goblins for X money, or 1 ogre for X money), sending down an ogre or boss would be much more expensive. Just like Line Wars / Castle Fight, the more stuff you send down, the more income you get the next round - As per balance, smaller minions give more income than big ones - meaning while Goblins are trash for your opponents, people can't just spam dragons and ogres. Grab your income out of the gem chest as usual. But you need to balance how much you send down, and what defenses you build - since they should share costs.

You could even further the strategy by providing offensive spells.

Throw a Malthius heal aura on a certain area? Costs XXX. Betsy curse aura on a patch of 15 skeleton archers? Curse a specific enemy DPS huntress for 50% damage during that round? Make a specific class not available that round (AKA no Huntresses, forcing people to switch to alternate dps classes?) Endless possibilities.


There would be NO "direct" PvP - simply make an invisible wall/barrier in the center of the map that players cannot cross. Only minions can cross into the opponent's side. This would maintain DD's style of Player versus Minions, but with a slight PvP aspect (Since you are, objectively, aiming to destroy your enemy's core.)


Why do I think something like this is necessary?

Well, I do understand not everybody is able to "complete" all the content up to NM4 - but the fact remains, many have done so. Once you reach the point of farming NM4, there really isn't much left to do. Being an experienced hardcore gamer, having played just about everything in the past decade - I know for a fact, the biggest "game killer" is running out of stuff/being bored of the endgame. Players need something to continue grinding for - and farming 50 waves of Onslaught for a 5-ilvl sidegrade with 1% more hearty blockade is not going to keep your playerbase going indefinitely. We all know how much of a trainwreck Onslaught is... There's NOTHING wrong with grinding, but you need more than that. Just look at games like Diablo 2/3 - The entire endgame is about grinding, yet they both still maintain a large playerbase and strong community - because there is a ladder "rift" system.

The fact of the matter is, most games that "last" a long time have a sense of competition. Whether its to get better loot, or progress up a ladder, you can't have an endgame which "ends" once you've collected all your Ilvl 700 NM4 gear. I've only been playing about 2 months and have 7 level 50s with ILvls 680-700 - I still enjoy farming for upgrades, but I can definitely see myself getting bored in another month with no new content.

I know some people brought up an idea of a ladder for completing Onslaught levels - but frankly, that sounds pretty boring. It's already a nightmare to sit through 30+ rounds of Onslaught - Do you REALLY want the endgame to be a ladder with the top guys competing to complete Round 100+ of Onslaught, sitting there for days at end on a map?

You could even throw on some nice rewards for winning in this mode. Defender medals? Unique loot? Be creative.

Still here? Thanks for the long read!