Temple of Polybius

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Temple of Polybius
Challenge Information
Crystals
DU/MU	0-70
Waves	2 (?-?)
Starting Mana	TBD
Chest Mana/Wave	TBD
Rewards	Mischief Maker Kraken Kannon Polybius Pets
Bosses	Numerous
Map	Temple of Water
Introduced	CDT Update ?
Challenge Series	Lost Quest
Missions in Series
← Previous	Flames of Rebirth
← Previous	Flames of Rebirth
Current	Temple of Polybius
Current	Temple of Polybius
Next →	Spring Valley
Next →	Spring Valley

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The Temple of Polybius, or Poly, is a hectic Lost Quest challenge that takes place in the Temple of Water. It supports up to six (6) players.

It is divided into three parts, all of which must be completed in succession to beat the challenge, within a time limit and limited supply of lives.

Part 1 - Assault

The Temple of Polybius challenge begins in an underwater corridor connecting to a small puzzle room above. Players must find a way to hit the yellow prism above the door to unlock it.

The Temple of Water is fortified with enemies and defenses comprised of Apprentice and Squire towers, Ogres, Dark Elf Warriors and Mages, Fish-Wyverns and Harbingers. Players are tasked to destroy the five 'Dark' Eternia Crystals inside while fighting through the temple's fortifications. Heroes have their jump height and attack range reduced. Unlike other assault challenges though, hero health, speed and resistances are not handicapped. All pets and nearly all hero abilities can also be used. The only other restriction players have for this first part is the inability to summon defenses.

Once the five crystals are destroyed, all remaining monsters and enemy defenses will crumble.

Part 2 - Core Defense

A single Eternia Crystal must be defended against two waves of enemies. Players have less DU and MU to work with than the original campaign mission (70 to be exact).

On the second wave, two Kraken will spawn on opposite sides of the map, as well as Polybius clones. Only the south-side Kraken has to be defeated though to end the wave.

The third wave cannot be released. Players are instead prompted to search the temple to figure out how to progress. A seemingly out-of-reach door on the south side of the map leads to the third and final part of the challenge. One way to reach this door is to use a Summoner. They have to jump into a ceiling, hover through the underwater corridor, then jump again in midair, landing on a platform above the water. To pass the spikes in front of the door, the summoner can place an Orc or Warrior Minion as a footstool. then, jump and hover to finally reach the door.

Once any player passes through the door, everyone will be teleported to the last part of the challenge.

Part 3 - Boss Gauntlet

Another door can be seen ahead and a Defender's Forge to the side. Attempting to open the door will cause a barricade to block it off and the forge to disappear. After some time, the boss Polybius will appear. What looks to be a lone island in a placid ocean is actually a square-shaped battlefield with invisible boundaries. No defenses can be summoned during the boss fights, and all preexisting defenses will disappear.

Polybius is initially invulnerable. In order to damage the arcade machine, players must defeat numerous boss monsters and evil heroes that spawn. Polybius flies around spawning enemies and shooting fireballs at the heroes. These fireballs leave behind deadly pools of fire on impact. It will also teleport occasionally. The boss can be stunned temporarily by damaging the four pylons in each corner of the arena.

Once Polybius is defeated, the challenge is completed... almost. An evil supersized Ninja Monk known as "Mischief" will then spawn wielding a Mischief Maker. Instead of shooting single blue fireballs from this weapon, Mischief unleashes huge spreads of orange fireballs, all of which leave behind lingering flames. He also regenerates 250,000 health every second and teleports on occasion. When he teleports, a stationary Harbinger will spawn at the arena's center which in turn spawns Ogres if left alive. At melee range, Mischief will swing his chakram to knock players away. Upon defeating this Monk, the players win for real.

Bosses Fought

Demon Lord

• The Demon never takes flight and therefore never shoots fireballs.

Goblin Mech

• The Mech spawns at the arena's center and never moves.

Spider Queen

• The Queen moves, attacks and recovers from being stunned much faster.

Mega Turkey

• Shoots large fireballs that leave lingering fire pools on impact, instead of explosive eggs.
• Ground pound attack is executed much faster and has tremendous knockback.
• The normal-sized turkeys also attack players.

Evil Apprentice, Squire, Ranger (Outlander) and Barbarian (Tavernkeep Imposter)

• The Apprentice's Mana Bomb takes a very long time to charge up, but deals massive damage.
• The Ranger himself can turn invisible; he cannot cloak his allies.

Rewards

• Mischief Maker
• Kraken Kannon
• Random weapons and pets

• 1 Random Polybius pet

Notes

• If Hardcore or Ruthless Mode is enabled, any players who join the match after the entry door is unlocked can only spectate. They will never spawn in or gain any rewards.
• Like the Crystalline Dimension, players who bring in multiple heroes will not earn more Mischief Makers, Kraken Kannons, or Polybii at the end.
• Mega Turkey's stomp reaches the entire battle arena; it is guaranteed to damage all heroes who are grounded.

Dungeon Defenders Redux

In Redux, there is less downtime for the bosses to spawn. The Kraken duo and Polybius imposters spawn immediately when the wave they appear on begins. Mischief will quickly spawn after Polybius's defeat. Proton Charge Blast is completely useless against the evil Ninja Monk, though his health scales less with the total number of players than before. During combat at the boss gauntlet, 8 DU/MU is available which can be used to place a Damage Totem, Speed Totem or other support defense(s) excluding Strength Drain Auras.

On Ascension

• Hero-healing pets restore 85% less health than they do on Nightmare.
• Both Krakens prior to the gauntlet must be killed as opposed to only the south-side one.
• A Wasp Queen replaces the ???, while Annatar replaces the Evil ???.
• Four stationary Mega Snowmen spawn with Mega Turkey.
• Mischief spawns the moment Polybius becomes vulnerable to damage.

Strategies

Main Article: Temple of Polybius/Strategies

General

• It is ill-advised to do this challenge alone, especially on Nightmare or Ascension difficulty. A team of in-combat heroes should ideally consist of at least two Monks for the entirety of the mission and one or two Series 1.75 EVs for the boss gauntlet.
  • If you do wish to solo the temple, a Fairy, Desert Goblin, Lover's Cupid or Divine armor set is recommended for good health regeneration.
  • EV is unrecommended in Redux, due to the fact Mischief is immune to her Proton Charge Blast.
• A healing pet is crucial to the team's survival (without superb dodging skills). The constant barrage of enemy projectiles leaves little-to-no time to Self-Heal without getting hit.
  • Circular Slice, Battle Leap, Battle Pound, Hawk Stance and Mana/Purity Bomb are very risky to use because they take away the player's control for the entire duration of the unleashed attack's animation. Most enemy attacks also cannot expedite their end lag.

Assault

• A Countess with Mr. Owl and her Call to Arms ability can blitz through the map whilst being extremely resilient to damage. In Vanilla, the Squire can perform a similar feat with Blood Rage active.

• It is possible to skip the stacked wall of Slice N Dice Blockades by jumping into a side opening to reach the northern core. This trick is not doable if the hero is too slow (ex: Tuxedo Ranger without a Moon pet).

• In Redux, the Unicorn Staff and Genie's Scimitar can snipe the west core from below.
  • A Plane Gun or Dragon Slayer 2000 can also snipe towers, some of the Harbingers and the south core.

Crystal Defense and Kraken Duo

• Even on Ascension Ruthless , Lighting and Deadly Striker Towers are almost-always the only non-minion physical defenses used, coupled with a Buff Beam and Strength Drain Aura. These towers are then overclocked on the first wave between an Upgrade Jester (or Adept in Vanilla), Tower Boost Monk and either a Guardian Summoner or Boost Initiate.
  • The towers and Buff Beam are either built leveled with the core or on top of the railing behind the forge. On this narrow surface, Ogres will never aggro to them, necessitating minions to hold their attention if desired.

Boss Gauntlet

• The Ranger's Invisibility Field can make the evil heroes (including Mischief) do absolutely nothing. They won't attack or move if every player is cloaked. However, all of the other bosses will still see invisible heroes. It is uncertain if Mischief also ignores invisibility in Redux.
• Melee-oriented heroes (Squire, Countess, Barbarian) will have a harder time hitting Polybius and are more susceptible to taking extreme damage from Mischief's projectile volleys.
• One or two players can bring a Propeller Cat to increase everyone's damage output. A high-stat Series 1.75 EV with an Ember Sceptre, accompanied by a cat and Hero Boost, can decimate all but the Kraken (and Mischief in Redux) with relative ease via her Proton Charge Blast. Doubling up on EVs can make the boss annihilation even faster.

Trivia

• Polybius is an urban legend considering a fictional arcade machine and video game from the 1980's. It is believed to have been one of most dangerous video games ever created.
• The nickname "Mischief" for the Ninja Monk boss at the end of this challenge is a reference to the CDT member, Redux co-developer and well-known DPS Monk player of the same username/online alias.