Turret combinations or synergies are not exactly new in tower defense games, with games likeOrcs Must Dieallowing players to place different turrets on each other to influence how the battle pans out. For instance, getting waves of enemies to meet a grisly end by sticking them in tar while being demolished by the Swing Mace from above. In the RPGtower defense gameDwerve, players take on the role of a dwarven warsmith battling through levels across a dwarven kingdom, which on the surface has a similar gameplay approach toOrcs Must Die.However,Dwervetakes it in a slightly different direction.
In a recent Game Rant interview withDwervedeveloper and Half Human Games co-founder Percy Legendre IV, he spoke to how the game’s various turret synergies, among other game features, set it apart from traditional types of tower defense games likeOrcs Must Die. Although Legendre saidOrcs Must Diewas one ofDwerve’s key game inspirations, as well asother games likeZelda: A Link To The Past, he highlighted some different features that setDwerveapart in its combat mechanics.
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Turret And Trap Synergies In Dwerve
Like inOrcs Must die,Dwervehas varioustraps and trap combinationsthat players can utilize.It has many fun and unique turrets, including Spinblade turrets, Chakrams, Mortars, and the electrocuting Tesla turret that “goes round corners because it chains from enemy to enemy.” However, Legendre explained that one ofDwerve’s key differences that sets it apart fromOrcs Must Dieis the concept of the build phase.
InOrcs Must Die, what’s nice about it is that it has a build phase and an action phase. So during the build phase, you take your time and you’re planning, you’re building your turrets, your traps, and then during the action phase, you’re shooting crossbows and swing swords and whatnot. Now inDwerve,there is no objective you’re trying to protect. There is no build phase. You are the objective. So, when enemies spawn, they’re coming after you and you’re defending yourself.
There is no build phase inDwerve, except for its recently introduced Classic Tower Defense. Instead, in its main mode, Legendre explained that players must rely on and recall their turrets to fight by building or rebuilding them as needed using their Power Stones, with their ability to pick up, place, and reposition turrets freely in an “intense high strategy experience”. Although the blue-haired dwarven hero Dwerve does possess a boomerang to knock back enemies, Legendre added this doesn’t mean traditional action gameplay, with the boomerang functioning “more as an extra turret.”
Dwerve Turret Synergies, Upgrades, And The Environment
InDwerve, players can upgrade traps and turrets and can make either floor traps or stand-up turrets. Legendre also explained inDwervethat “each turret has its own upgrade tree” in Sla’s Workbench. As players upgrade their turrets, “the synergies also kind of lean into each other further,” indicating that upgrades have an impact on how trap synergies perform as players progress and experiment with different combinations, which is exactly what Legendre hopes players do.
Right before any major battle is what’s called Sla’s Workbench, and that’s where you swap out your turrets, where you get upgrades, and where you can sell upgrades for a full refund and try new ones. So, we really want the player to experiment with turret combinations and upgrades, and just see what’s fun for them and then try those out in the battles.
Although in many tower defense games, there is usually a set meta for upgrades and improvements, Legendre added thatDwerve"really encourages experimentation," particularly with turret combinations and upgrades. Experimentation also extends to level design, as another noteworthy feature ofDwerve’s turret mechanics is how they synchronize or work best with features of the game’s levels.
For instance, the narrow corridors of dungeons effectively encourage players to use turrets to stop enemies in their tracks or use particular turrets in map areas with design features like water or lava to the player’s advantage. An example could be deploying turrets that knock enemies into pools of water while trapping others with Spinblade turret, in comparison toOrcs Must Die’s various types of weaponsfor the hero to pick off stragglers. It’s similar, but it has a slightly different gameplay effect. Ultimately, how players choose and upgrade their turrets is up to them in a game that factors player options throughout, and it is all part of the fun as players learn and discover all the exciting ways to play inDwerve’s range of unique turret synergy systems.
Dwerveis available on PC and is coming to Nintendo Switch in Spring 2023. It is currently part of the East Meets West Festival hosted by Curve Games and has 15% off on Steam till August 02, 2025.
