Dread Wardens

Build the defense. Be the last line.

The undead are coming for your crystal. Place your towers, choose your ground, then step into the fight yourself. Dread Wardens brings third-person hero combat and tower-defense strategy together: your spells, your defenses, and your decisions all have to work as one.

Online Co-op — hold the line together

Team up with friends in online co-op for up to four players. Combine different heroes, cover the lanes together, and build defenses that work with your team's abilities. Coordinate in lobby and in-game chat as you push further into the endless climb. Prefer to face the darkness alone? Play solo, too.

Online PvP — outlast the opposition

In Versus PvP, opposing teams defend their own arenas and crystals against timed waves. Defeating enemies can send extra enemies into your rivals’ arena, turning a strong defense into an attack. Build, fight, and keep your crystal standing longer than theirs.

Five heroes. Five ways to hold the line.

Each hero has a distinct combat role, ability bar, talent tree, and tower roster. Pick the kit that suits you—or combine roles with your co-op team.

Choose your hero and preview their strengths, abilities, and towers:

Cryomancer — control the battlefield

Slow the advance with Frostbolt, freeze enemies around you with Frost Nova, and follow up with Ice Lance. Place Blizzard over a crowded lane to keep the pressure on. When the defense is about to break, Absolute Zero freezes enemies across the arena. Give your towers more time to fire.

Necromancer — turn their dead against them

Fight alongside your Bound Revenant, strike with Bone Spear, and wear enemies down with Curse. Every corpse presents a choice: spend it on Raise Dead for another skeletal ally, or unleash Corpse Explosion to damage a group and spread decay. Army of the Dead brings empowered reinforcements when you need them most.

Engineer — build a crossfire

Keep firing with your bolt-gun while Deploy Turret adds a temporary gun emplacement. Throw a Shrapnel Grenade into a cluster, then use Overclock to boost nearby towers and turrets. For a concentrated strike, mark the ground for Artillery Barrage. Position your machinery where multiple defenses can cover the same approach.

Guardian — stand where the line would break

Meet the horde with sword, shield, and defensive barriers. Cleave sweeps enemies in front of you, Stun Nova stops a nearby group, and Shield Bash stuns a close threat. Fortify restores and reinforces your defenses. Unleash Last Stand to draw enemies onto you, reflect damage, and heal your allies.

Blood Mage — make damage sustain the team

Bloodletting wounds a target and mends an injured ally. Crimson Nova turns damage to nearby enemies into group healing, while Sanguine Link converts damage dealt to a tethered target into recovery for allies. Build Vitae through combat and spend it on Blood Pact to grant lifesteal. Red Harvest tears health from enemies across the arena and returns it to your team.

Make every tower count

Cover fast approaches, exploit longer routes, and defend the choke points. Place, upgrade, repair, and sell your towers while balancing the gold you spend on your hero. Combine crowd control, elemental damage, chain attacks, draining beams, and protective barriers to hold back the horde. Hero-and-tower synergies reward a defense built around your playstyle.

Three battlegrounds. An endless climb.

Survive eight waves and defeat the map boss, then push into the next level. Fight through Frostgrave Crypt, Verdant Hollow, and Fallen Cathedral as the maps rotate and the enemies grow stronger. Face shieldbearers, archers, spellcasters, brutes, rushing imps, and exploding horrors that demand different answers from your defenses.

The horde has more than one way in.

Undead warriors, twisted creatures, and dark spellcasters put your defenses to the test. Each wave brings a different mix of threats. Adapt your towers, fight where you are needed, and discover what the next wave has in store.

Something darker waits beyond the horde.

Survive the waves and face powerful bosses that test your hero and your defenses. Some threats are best discovered on the battlefield.

Build your hero. Beat your best.

Earn hero experience, allocate character stats, and shape your abilities through talent trees. Chase Steam achievements and compete on global Steam leaderboards for the highest progression level reached.

Shape your abilities through talents.