100% Completion Guide | Dungeon Defenders Progression Hub

How to Use This Guide

This guide explains the recommended order for completing Dungeon Defenders' major achievement and completion goals. The checklist page is for tracking progress, while this page explains what each section means and when to do it.

The main idea is to group achievements together instead of completing them one at a time. Many maps can count toward several achievements in the same run if you choose the right difficulty and meet the right conditions.

Important Note

If a map or achievement feels too hard, do not force it. Go back to the progression guide, farm better gear, improve your builders and DPS hero, then return to completion cleanup later.

Recommended Completion Order

The easiest way to work toward 100% completion is to build your account first, then clean up achievements in grouped sections. The order below keeps the grind from feeling random.

Step	Goal	Why This Comes Here
1	Progression Guide	Build your heroes, get usable gear, and unlock stronger farming options.
2	Campaign Achievements	Campaign clears stack with difficulty, flawless, hardcore, and hero-based achievements.
3	Free / Basic Achievements	Clean up simple goals like leveling heroes, upgrading gear, and storing mana.
4	Challenges	Original challenges can be grouped together and repeated later on higher difficulties.
5	Survival / Pure Strategy	These take longer, so they are better once your builds are stable.
6	Pets	Many pets come from survival or specific maps, so collect them while doing other goals.
7	Shards / Summoner	These are harder than early campaign cleanup and need better heroes.
8	Legendary / Ultimate Defender	These should unlock after the required achievement groups are finished.
9	Eternal Defender	After Ultimate Defender, complete the required Lost Quest maps on Nightmare.
10	Ruthless / Extra Cleanup	Save the hardest or optional cleanup goals for when your account is strongest.

Track Your Progress

Use the checklist page while playing so you can mark off each map, pet, challenge, and multi-step achievement.

Open the 100% Completion Checklist

Campaign Achievement Groups

Campaign maps are where many achievements stack together. A single well-planned run can count toward campaign completion, difficulty clears, hardcore clears, flawless victory, Team Effort, Gunslinger, and Master Strategist.

Main Conditions to Stack

Any difficulty clears: Complete each campaign area.
Hard clears: Complete each campaign area on Hard.
Insane clears: Complete each campaign area on Insane.
Nightmare clears: Complete the original campaign on Nightmare.
Hardcore Nightmare clears: Complete the original campaign on Nightmare without dying.
Team Effort: Complete campaign maps with four active heroes on at least Medium.
Perfectionist: Earn Flawless Victory on each mission on at least Medium.
Brute Force: Earn Gunslinger on all missions.
Master Strategist: Complete maps using only tower damage.

Map Group	Maps	Main Achievement Focus
Area 1	The Deeper Well, Foundries and Forges, Magus Quarters, Alchemical Laboratory	Early campaign clears, difficulty clears, and Nightmare progress.
Area 2	Servants Quarters, Castle Armory, Hall of Court, The Throne Room	Mid-campaign clears, difficulty clears, and Nightmare progress.
Area 3	Royal Gardens, The Ramparts, Endless Spires, The Summit	Late campaign clears, The Summit boss, and hero ending progress.
Bonus	Glitterhelm Caverns	Bonus campaign clears and Nightmare completion progress.

Best Way to Approach Campaign Cleanup

Start with easier difficulties if your account is still weak, then return later for Nightmare Hardcore and special conditions. If you are already strong enough, one higher-difficulty clear can often cover several earlier requirements at once.

Basic / Free Achievements

These achievements are mostly earned through normal play. They are still worth tracking because they are easy to forget when you are focused on maps and bosses.

Common Basic Goals

Smithy: Upgrade your first piece of equipment.
And This Is My Weapon: Fully upgrade one piece of equipment.
To The Limit: Wear fully upgraded gear in all major slots.
Divine Intention: Pick up a Godly weapon.
O Mighty Smiter: Wear a full Godly armor set with the same material type.
Obedience Training: Fully upgrade a pet.
Pupil / Veteran / Defender of Etheria: Leveling milestones.
True Nobility: Earn the Lord award on at least Medium.
Master Banker: Store 15,000,000 mana in your mana bank.

Cleanup Tip

Do not leave these until the very end if they are easy for you to finish now. Simple achievements are nice to clear early so the final checklist is mostly map and challenge cleanup.

Hero and Multi-Step Achievements

Some achievements are simple in concept but have multiple required parts. These are explained here, then tracked in detail on the checklist page.

Important Multi-Step Examples

Group Hug: Raise Apprentice, Monk, Huntress, and Squire to level 70.
A Matter of Perspective: Defeat The Summit with each original hero as player one.
Defense Is the Best Offense: Reach wave 10 in Pure Strategy on every required map.
Transcendent Survivalist: Complete Nightmare Survival Victory on every required map.
Real Time Strategist: Complete the required maps with Summoner rules.
Eternal Defender: Complete every required Lost Quest map on Nightmare.

Why These Are Separated

The guide explains what each achievement means. The checklist is where each individual hero, map, pet, or clear gets its own checkbox.

Challenge Achievements

Challenge achievements are best completed in groups. Many of the Medium and Insane challenge achievements can be covered while working toward the Nightmare Hardcore challenge achievement.

Main Challenge Goals

Complete each original challenge for the base challenge achievements.
Repeat challenge clears on higher difficulties when needed.
Work toward Transcendent Challenge Champion by clearing every original challenge on Nightmare Hardcore.
Save Ruthless challenge clears until later unless your account is already strong enough.

Original Challenge Group

The original challenge group includes No Towers Allowed, Unlikely Allies, Warping Core, Raining Goblins, Wizardry, Ogre Crush, Zippy Terror, Chicken, Moving Core, Death From Above, Assault, Treasure Hunt, and Monster Fest.

Shards Challenge Group

Portal Protector: Spider challenge progress.
Djinn Recruiter: War of the Djinn progress.
Puzzle Solver: Riddle of the Deep progress.
Jingled All the Way: Etherian Holiday Extravaganza progress.

Survival and Pure Strategy

Survival and Pure Strategy achievements take more time, but they can also cover several achievement requirements at once. These are best saved until your defenses are stable and your builders are stronger.

Pure Strategy

Defense Is the Best Offense: Reach wave 10 on all original campaign maps in Pure Strategy on at least Medium.
You only need to reach wave 10, so completing wave 9 and losing on wave 10 can still count.
This includes The Deeper Well through The Summit, plus Glitterhelm Caverns.

Survival

Iron Man: Reach Survival wave 10 on Insane.
Survivalist: Reach Survival wave 15 on at least Medium.
Tough Guy: Reach Survival wave 15 on at least Hard.
Thick Skin: Reach Survival wave 20 on at least Medium.
Transcendent Survivalist: Achieve Nightmare Survival Victory on every required campaign mission.

Helpful Shortcut

If another player already has later waves unlocked, they can start a map near the needed wave and lose quickly to help unlock wave access. Then you can start closer to the required wave instead of replaying every full survival.

Pet Achievements

Pet achievements are easier when you plan ahead. Some pets come from survival, some come from specific challenges, and some can overlap with other achievement goals.

Main Pet Goals

Catch 'em All: Store all required pet types in your item box or on heroes.
I've Got Monsters in My Pocket: Collect every required pet in Etheria.
Pets can be tracked by source, because several pet types come from the same map or reward group.

Pet Tracking Approach

The checklist groups pets by drop source. For example, Guardians, Animus, and Dragon can be tracked together when they share the same source, instead of making the pet section unnecessarily long.

Source Type	Examples
Campaign / Survival Sources	Griffon, Giraffe, Steam Robot, Serpent, Laser Robot, Hamster, Tiger, Genie, Fairy, Hawk, Imp
Boss / Special Sources	Guardians, Animus, Dragon, Goblin Cupid, Rainbow Unicorn, Pet Rock
Shards / Later Sources	Shroomite, Donkey, Seahorse, Propeller Cat, Djinnlet, Cowboy Monkey
Special Event Sources	Democrat Donkey, Republican Elephant

Useful but Separate

Some pets are useful for progression even if they are not the focus of the achievement checklist. Keep useful progression pets separate from required achievement pets so the route stays clear.

Summoner and Shards

This section covers the Summoner-style achievements and the main Quest for the Lost Eternia Shards achievements. These should usually be done after your heroes and builds are stronger.

Real Time Strategist Goals

Real Time Strategist: Complete the required maps using summoned mobs and Overlord mode.
Mythical Real Time Strategist: Complete the same requirement on Nightmare.
Mastermind: Can overlap if the final wave only uses tower damage where applicable.

Allowed Damage and Support

Summoner minions count as minion damage.
Hermit Golem also counts as minion damage.
Non-damaging support like Ensnare Aura, Strength Drain Aura, Enrage Aura, Gas Trap, Apprentice walls, EV Buff Beam, and EV Physical Beam can help.
Do not use Reflect Beams.
Do not use DPS pets because they count as hero damage.

Shards Content

Mistymire Forest
Moraggo Desert Town
Aquanos
Sky City
Crystalline Dimension

Save This for Later

Shards and Summoner achievements are much easier after your account already has stable Nightmare builds and a stronger DPS hero.

Legendary and Ultimate Defender

Legendary Defender and Ultimate Defender are milestone achievements. They are not really steps you grind directly. They should unlock after enough required achievement groups are completed.

Legendary Defender

Legendary Defender is the earlier completion milestone. It should unlock after the required original achievement groups are finished.

Ultimate Defender

Ultimate Defender is the main Steam 100% milestone. It builds on Legendary Defender and includes the required achievements through the Quest for the Lost Eternia Shards.

Not Required for Ultimate Defender

Boss Rush
Anti-Cupid / Temple O' Love

Best Mindset

Do not chase Legendary Defender or Ultimate Defender directly. Work through the grouped sections first, then use the checklist to see what is still missing.

Eternal Defender

Eternal Defender comes after Ultimate Defender. Once Ultimate Defender is done, the next major requirement is completing the required Lost Quest maps on Nightmare.

Main Requirement

Complete Ultimate Defender first.
Complete the required Lost Quest maps on Nightmare.
Pirate Invasion counts when you survive to the required wave on Nightmare.
Many of these maps should also be completed on Hardcore if you want secret boss progress.

Required Lost Quest Group

This group includes maps from Dread Dungeon through Infested Ruins, including Arcane Library, Buccaneer Bay, Pirate Invasion, Coastal Bazaar, Embermount Volcano, Flames of Rebirth, Temple of Water, Temple of Polybius, Spring Valley, Tomb of Etheria, Emerald City, Crystalline Resurgence Parts 1-4, Wintermire, Magus Citadel, Omenak, and Infested Ruins.

Suggested Approach

Do these maps after your account is much stronger. Many of them are harder than normal campaign achievement cleanup, so it is better to return after you have strong builders, a reliable DPS hero, and good resistances.

Ruthless Defender

Ruthless Defender is a late-game completion goal. It requires the classic campaign and related classic challenges on Ruthless, so it should usually be saved until your Nightmare cleanup is already comfortable.

When to Start Ruthless

After your builders are strong enough for consistent high-end clears.
After your DPS hero has strong resistances and reliable damage.
After you have already completed most Nightmare achievement cleanup.
When you are ready for harder versions of campaign and challenge content.

Late-Game Warning

Ruthless content can be much harder than the achievements needed for early completion progress. Do not use Ruthless as your first major cleanup goal.

Side Achievement Groups

These achievements are not always part of the main Ultimate Defender route, but they still matter for full account cleanup and a complete achievement hub.

Event and Bonus Map Groups

Boss Rush: Boss Crusher and Nightmare Boss Crusher.
Temple O' Love: Anti-Cupid and Nightmare Anti-Cupid.
Halloween Spooktacular 2: Pumpkin Party and Nightmare Pumpkin Party.
Greater Turkey Hunt: Greater Turkey Hunter and Nightmare Greater Turkey Hunter.
Silent Night: Not So Silent Night and Nightmare Not So Silent Night.
Anniversary Pack: Anniversary Defender and Nightmare Anniversary Defender.
Winter Wonderland: Winter Wonderland and Nightmare Winter Wonderland.
Tinkerer's Lab: Tinkerer's Defender, EV Reprogrammer, and Nightmare versions.
Moonbase: Out of this World and Nightmare Out of this World.
Spooktacular Bay: Spooky Swashbuckler and Nightmare Spooky Swashbuckler.
The Striking Tree: Nature Enthusiast and Nightmare Nature Enthusiast.
Tavern Defense: Tavern Defender and Nightmare Tavern Defender.
Lover's Paradise: Love Defender and Nightmare Love Defender.
Crystal Escort: Heart Wanderer and Nightmare Heart Wanderer.
Lifestream Hollow: Lifestream Hollow Defender and Nightmare version.
Forest Ogre Crush: Forest Ogre Crusher and Nightmare Forest Ogre Crusher.

Important

Some side achievements are not required for Ultimate Defender or Eternal Defender, but they are still useful to list for players who want full completion beyond the main route.

Final Cleanup

Final cleanup is where you check everything that did not naturally unlock while following the main route. This is where the checklist page becomes especially useful.

What to Check Before Calling It Finished

Campaign clears and difficulty clears.
Original challenge clears and Nightmare Hardcore challenge clears.
Pure Strategy and Survival requirements.
Required pet collection.
Shards, Summoner, and Crystalline Dimension progress.
Legendary Defender and Ultimate Defender progress.
Eternal Defender Lost Quest clears.
Ruthless Defender progress.
Optional side achievement groups.

Final Advice

Do not leave everything for one massive cleanup session. Work through the route in chunks, and use the checklist to find exactly what is missing.

Source Credit

Achievement route information on this page is based on Chiku's Dungeon Defenders Achievements Guide 2025 and rewritten into a cleaner guide format for this website.

View Chiku's Original Steam Guide