The Crystalline Dimension (CD) is a mysterious world located in another dimension, far from Etheria itself. It is the location of the captured legendary heroes, the heroes' parents, as well as the Old One.
Crystalline versions of every non-boss enemy that is regularly encountered on Nightmare spawn here, regardless of difficulty level. The world also features evil crystallized versions of the original four heroes and three bosses. In the Boss Rush challenge, two Spider Queens, a Genie King, and two Kraken are fought in sequence.
The main mission is divided into five fields which all must be cleared in succession, within a time limit of 86:30 (86 minutes and 30 seconds) and a limited number of lives. If a player joins the game and then leaves, a life will be lost. Therefore, caution should be taken when hosting public games, especially when Hardcore or Ruthless Mode is enabled.
If at ANY point: a crystal is destroyed, the player(s) run out of lives or time runs out, they will lose and have to restart the mission from the very beginning.
After completing the Crystalline Dimension once on PC, the first part to the Crystalline Resurgence (CR) is unlocked. The second and third parts are unlocked after clearing the first. These three challenges take place solely on the first, second and third fields respectively from the original mission.
The Portal[]
The Crystalline Dimension is accessible once the player has acquired all four Lost Eternia Shards by clearing Mistymire Forest, Moraggo Desert Town, Aquanos, and Sky City, in any order. The mission may be played up to highest shared difficulty level all four maps were completed on. To enter the Crystalline Dimension on Nightmare Hardcore, the four previously mentioned maps must be completed on Nightmare or Ascension Hardcore.
When the criteria is met, a portal to the dimension will appear in the host's tavern. The Crystalline Dimension can be entered through this portal or from the Mission Setup interface under "Challenges." The host can choose to hide the portal in their tavern from the Options menu. The portal does not have to be shown in order to enter the Crystalline Dimension.
Story[]
Full Story
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Intro Cinematic
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Rewards[]
Weapons[]
On console, two completely random items are rewarded for clearing the mission.
On PC, one special weapon is awarded for completing the Crystalline Dimension as the corresponding class (or their counterpart). If Series EV was used, either the Crystal Staff/Eternian Staff or Crystal Gun/Eternian Energy Cannon is given. If the Jester or Summoner was used, any one of these weapons will be given.
On Redux and before 9.0.0, only one weapon is given per account, per run. This means that a user cannot get multiple weapons by bringing in multiple heroes that belong to the same account. Since 9.0.0, you get one weapon per hero on map completion, even if they're all on the same account
Class | Easy-Insane | Nightmare |
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Apprentice | Crystal Staff | Eternian Staff |
Squire or Barbarian | Crystal Blade | Eternian Greatsword |
Huntress | Crystal Gun | Eternian Energy Cannon |
Monk | Jade Spear | Eternian Spear |
Costumes[]
A Legendary Costume is unlocked for completing the Crystalline Dimension for the first time as the specified class (or their counterpart). The Super Legendary Costume is also unlocked if the mission was done on Nightmare or Ascension Hardcore. A crystalline variant can be earned by clearing CD on Ascension too (Hardcore/Ruthless not required).
The first two costume columns below are the parents of the young heroes. They all have significantly more health, but move considerably slower. All Super Legendary versions grant a damage bonus, on top of a greater health increase and movement speed reduction.
Player Hero | Easy-Nightmare | Nightmare Hardcore | Ascension |
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Apprentice, Adept or Jester |
Legendary Mage | Super Legendary Mage | SL Crystalline Mage |
Legendary Knight | Super Legendary Knight | SL Crystalline Knight | |
Legendary Huntress | Super Legendary Huntress | SL Crystalline Huntress | |
Legendary Monk | Super Legendary Monk | SL Crystalline Monk |
Accessories[]
Crystalline accessories are also rewarded for completing the mission. As of 9.0.0, every player gets two accessories per hero. On Redux, the host only gets one accessory per hero. The cosmetic set bonus makes blue shards orbit the hero; in addition, a blue trail follows the character's movement.
Achievements[]
Mission Progression and Map Details[]
On fields/stages 1-4, one of the Eternia Crystals contain a captured Legendary Hero. These crystals are taller and have less health than the other crystals. All four maps are vast and open; it is therefore impractical to build physical walls for every possible direction the ground enemies can approach the crystals.
Stage 1 - Legendary Huntress[]
Recommended Level: N/A |
Crystalline Dimension
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Map Information | |||||||||||||||
Number of Crystals | Number of Waves | Defense Units | Starting Mana | ||||||||||||
2 | 175 | N/A | |||||||||||||
Hazards | Mana Per Round | ||||||||||||||
Falling off the map | N/A | ||||||||||||||
Challenges | |||||||||||||||
N/A | |||||||||||||||
Spawn List | |||||||||||||||
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Bosses | |||||||||||||||
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Survival Rewards | |||||||||||||||
{{{survival rewards}}} |
Stage 2 - Legendary Monk[]
Recommended Level: N/A |
Crystalline Dimension
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Map Information | |||||||||||||||
Number of Crystals | Number of Waves | Defense Units | Starting Mana | ||||||||||||
2 | 175 | N/A | |||||||||||||
Hazards | Mana Per Round | ||||||||||||||
Falling off the map | N/A | ||||||||||||||
Challenges | |||||||||||||||
N/A | |||||||||||||||
Spawn List | |||||||||||||||
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Bosses | |||||||||||||||
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Survival Rewards | |||||||||||||||
{{{survival rewards}}} | |||||||||||||||
Strategy | |||||||||||||||
??? |
Stage 3 - Legendary Apprentice[]
Recommended Level: N/A |
Crystalline Dimension
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Map Information | |||||||||||||||
Number of Crystals | Number of Waves | Defense Units | Starting Mana | ||||||||||||
2 | 175 | N/A | |||||||||||||
Hazards | Mana Per Round | ||||||||||||||
Falling off the map | N/A | ||||||||||||||
Challenges | |||||||||||||||
N/A | |||||||||||||||
Spawn List | |||||||||||||||
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Bosses | |||||||||||||||
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Survival Rewards | |||||||||||||||
{{{survival rewards}}} | |||||||||||||||
Strategy | |||||||||||||||
??? |
Stage 4 - Legendary Squire and Boss Gauntlet[]
This is arguably the hardest stage of the Crystalline Dimension. Unlike the previous three stages, build time is limited. It is recommended to have multiple players build due to this time constraint. In Redux however, the prep-time is less with more players.
Once the countdown ends, two Demon Lords, two Goblin Mechs, and an Ancient Dragon will spawn, as well as endless enemies. Some of these endless enemies are "Super Orcs" which have much higher stats than regular Orcs. On higher difficulties, they can destroy the Eternia Crystal instantly, even if weakened by a Strength Drain Aura or the Initiate's Enemy Drain.
Recommended Level: N/A |
Crystalline Dimension
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Map Information | |||||||||||||||
Number of Crystals | Number of Waves | Defense Units | Starting Mana | ||||||||||||
1 | 175 | N/A | |||||||||||||
Hazards | Mana Per Round | ||||||||||||||
Falling off the map | N/A | ||||||||||||||
Challenges | |||||||||||||||
N/A | |||||||||||||||
Spawn List | |||||||||||||||
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Bosses | |||||||||||||||
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Survival Rewards | |||||||||||||||
{{{survival rewards}}} | |||||||||||||||
Strategy | |||||||||||||||
??? |
Stage 5 - Old One[]
Main Article: Old One
The Old One is the final stage of the Crystalline Dimension. This boss fight is like no other. There are three stages to the boss fight: the feet, the chest, and the head. Players are only able to damage him directly during the head phase.
Feet Stage[]
There are two orange crystals to destroy at this stage: one on each foot. Once both are destroyed, a smaller section of the stage will raise up to the chest stage.
Chest Stage[]
There are three orange crystals to destroy during this stage: one in the chest and one in each palm. These are harder to destroy than the feet crystals because they can only be damaged during certain times. All three crystals will be able to be damaged when the Old One is taunting. Apart from that, the hands may only be damaged in the period after the hand slam and the chest crystal may only be damaged during the chest lasers. Upon the destruction of all three crystals an even smaller section of the stage will be raised to the head section.
Head Stage[]
This is the stage you can attack the Old One directly. After taking 1/3 of his health in damage, the stage will reset back to the feet stage where you will need to repeat the process until the Old One is defeated. It is worthwhile to note that a strong, single-damage ability (ex: the Barbarian's Hawk Stance) can bypass the damage-per-stage limit allowing you to be able to defeat The Old One in one or two head stages instead of the usual three.
Map Information | |||||||||||||||
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Number of Crystals | Number of Waves | Defense Units | Starting Mana | ||||||||||||
1 | 8 | 0 | |||||||||||||
Hazards | Mana Per Round | ||||||||||||||
Falling Off Map and The Old One | 0 | ||||||||||||||
Location | |||||||||||||||
Crystalline Dimension | |||||||||||||||
Spawn List | |||||||||||||||
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Bosses | |||||||||||||||
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Rewards | |||||||||||||||
PC | |||||||||||||||
Easy | Medium | Hard | Insane | Nightmare | |||||||||||
Squire & Countess Crystal Blade Apprentice & Adept Crystal Staff Huntress & Ranger Crystal Gun Monk & Initiate Jade Spear |
Squire & Countess Crystal Blade Apprentice & Adept Crystal Staff Huntress & Ranger Crystal Gun Monk & Initiate Jade Spear |
Squire & Countess Crystal Blade Apprentice & Adept Crystal Staff Huntress & Ranger Crystal Gun Monk & Initiate Jade Spear |
Squire & Countess Crystal Blade Apprentice & Adept Crystal Staff Huntress & Ranger Crystal Gun Monk & Initiate Jade Spear |
Squire & Countess Eternian Greatsword Apprentice & Adept Eternian Staff Huntress & Ranger Eternian Energy Cannon Monk & Initiate Eternian Spear | |||||||||||
Survival Rewards | |||||||||||||||
N/A |
Notes[]
- Which crystalline antiheroes spawn depends on the hero classes each player uses during combat, even those who are permanently dead (due to no lives remaining).
- The antiheroes do not count towards wave completion; they will continue to spawn (and respawn periodically if destroyed) until the wave ends. None of them can damage Eternia Crystals. All of their projectiles can be bounced back via Reflection Beams.
Player Hero | Evil Hero | Abilities |
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Apprentice, Adept or Jester |
Crystalline Apprentice | Mana Bomb, Self-Heal |
Crystalline Squire | Circular Slice, Self-Heal | |
Crystalline Huntress | Piercing Shot, Self-Heal | |
Crystalline Monk | Melee and Ranged Attacks, Self-Heal |
- It is impossible to unlock costumes for more than one hero class (ex: Legendary Mages AND Knights) through a single run of CD. The player must therefore complete the mission at least four times to collect them all.
- The Summoner's minions will fight the crystallized enemies, despite himself and his minions being native to the Crystalline Dimension.
- In Redux, the host can skip the cinematics of each legendary hero being freed successfully.
- On Ascension, a weaker variant of the Great Old One is fought instead.
Tips[]
- Defenses can be placed on top of terrestrial crystals. Some extend high enough to where Ogres and antiheroes won't be able to reach or never target.
- The stone circle below each Eternia Crystal represents the approximate area Ogres can smash them. Place your physical defenses outside these circles to avoid indirect core damage.
- Only Crystalline Apprentices will spawn if all players, including those who can't spawn in, use any mix of Jesters, Apprentices, or Adepts during combat. Enemy Apprentices are relatively harmless to defenses. Their shots do neglectable damage under a Strength Drain Aura. They will also not cast Mana Bomb to attack defenses directly.
- On Fields 1-3, there are non-bottomless pits most heroes cannot escape from without dying. Instead of knocking yourself out from a Hardcore-enabled run, wait for a teammate to enter the portal to the next field.
- Before you proceed to the fourth stage (the Boss Gauntlet), stockpile mana on the builders you're going to use to save time dropping and picking up mana. This'll also prevent other players from taking the mana you need.
- If you are in a group playing on NMHC and you are not confident that you will survive until the Boss Gauntlet or Old One (Fields 4 and 5 respectively), stay on a hero that will unlock the Legendary (and Super Legendary) costume you want.
- For example: a Squire, Countess, or Barbarian if you want the Super Legendary Knight.
- Due to the length of this challenge and limited lives, it may be wise to play solo until you are about to face the boss gauntlet or Old One. If a player disconnects for reasons outside their control, it will cost them a life to spawn in after they rejoin.
Trivia[]
- At 175 DU and MU, Fields 1-3 of the Crystalline Dimension have the highest Defense and Minion Unit capacities in the game, outside the Tavern.
- The maps Sky City and Talay Mining Complex come in at second place with 170 DU and MU.
- Implied by the legendary heroes after escaping with their children, the Crystalline Dimension is one of many prisons in the Dungeon Defenders universe. The narrator refers to the portal of this particular prison as an Eternia Crystal, likely because the crystals are prisons to protect Etheria from the old ones (not just The Old One) and their powers.