Everything you need to know about Dungeon Descent. Use your screen reader heading navigation to jump between sections.
What is Dungeon Descent?
Dungeon Descent is a fully accessible turn-based dungeon crawler built specifically for screen reader users. You create a character, choose a dungeon, and descend through 10 floors fighting enemies, finding loot, and surviving long enough to defeat the final boss. Every element of the game is announced by your screen reader automatically.
How do I start?
From the main menu press Play. If you have no characters, press New Character. You will go through 7 creation steps — Class, Race, Profession, Name, Dungeon, Difficulty, and an optional Backstory. Then you descend. The dungeon announces every room, every enemy, every event automatically.
How do I win?
Survive all 10 floors and defeat the boss on floor 10. The boss has 3 phases and gets stronger each phase. Defeat all 3 phases and the dungeon is complete. Completing a dungeon unlocks the next one.
What happens when I die?
A death cinematic plays — a unique line based on which dungeon you were in, which enemy killed you, and how deep you got. Then the run summary shows your stats. Your character stays on your roster unless you delete them. You can try again immediately.
What is a run?
A run is one complete attempt at a dungeon from floor 1 to floor 10. Each run your XP, gold, and skills reset. Your character persists between runs — their completion history, earned spirits, and journal entries carry over forever.
Classes (18 total)
Warrior — high HP, reliable damage, defensive skills. Best for beginners.
Monk — fast attacks, SP regeneration, zen-based skills.
Assassin — high crit chance, stealth skills, burst damage.
Paladin — divine magic, healing, shields, undead resistance.
Naturalist — poison, entangle, animal companions, nature healing.
Sorcerer — highest damage in game, fragile, mana-based spells.
Necromancer — raises dead, life drain, undead synergies.
Berserker — rage-based skills, damage scales with low HP.
Bard — songs that buff you and debuff enemies.
Alchemist — potions, bombs, transmutation skills.
Blood Knight — bleeds enemies, heals from damage dealt.
Druid — shapeshifting, nature spells, strong healing.
Warlock — soul drain, dark pacts, powerful but costly skills.
Death Knight — survives one killing blow, undead aura, death magic.
Ranger — swift hunter. First hit every combat deals 75% bonus damage. High flee chance.
Sentinel — unbreakable wall. Highest HP of any class. Takes 25% less damage from all sources.
Cleric — sacred healer, triple potion strength, holy relics.
Wizard — arcane scholar, highest SP, lowest HP. Reveals enemy stats at combat start. 15 unique spells including Time Warp, Meteor, and Arcane Singularity.
Races (13 total — including Vampire, Goblin, Angel, Demon, Golem, Gnome, Merfolk, Dragonborn)
Human — balanced stats, no weaknesses.
Orc — highest attack in game, lower defense.
Elf — high speed and crit chance.
Dwarf — high defense, bonus HP, shop discounts.
Undead — immune to poison, drains life from enemies.
Fae — double gold find, bonus to flee attempts.
Demon — strong attack and defense, takes more holy damage.
Vampire — heals on every kill, weakened in light areas.
Goblin — starts with extra gold, bonus gold from kills.
Angel — starts with an extra life, bonus holy damage.
Golem — very high HP and defense, lower attack speed.
Gnome — plus INT and LCK, plus 10 max SP, all skills cost 2 less SP every combat.
Merfolk — potions heal 20% more, bonus HP and ATK in the Sunken Archives.
Dragonborn — 10% chance to deal bonus burn damage each hit, scales with floor depth.
Professions (11 total)
Blacksmith — weapons deal bonus damage.
Herbalist — potions heal double.
Scholar — avoids traps automatically.
Mercenary — starts with extra gold.
Gravedigger — bonus damage to undead enemies.
Thief — better flee chance, bonus loot.
Pilgrim — plus 15 percent XP from everything.
Grave Robber — starts with 50 gold, plus 20 percent gold drops.
Street Rat — free Smoke Bomb skill, plus 20 percent flee chance.
Warden — plus 3 defense, debuff immunity.
Tinkerer — starts with 2 potions, all skills cost 2 less SP.
Backstories (optional, Step 10)
At the end of character creation you can choose a backstory. Each one grants a small bonus and writes your first journal entry automatically. Options include Exiled Noble (plus 15 gold), Cursed Wanderer (plus 10 max HP), Former Soldier (plus 2 defense), Lost Scholar (plus 20 percent XP), Debt Collector (plus 25 gold), True Believer (plus 1 extra life), Nobody Special (no bonus — just honest), and Last Hope (plus 5 SP per level up). Backstory is completely optional — press Skip to go straight into the dungeon.
Skills
Each class has 15 unique skills. You unlock skills by leveling up — after each level up you choose one of three offered skills to permanently add to your skill bar for that run. Skills cost SP (Skill Points) to use. You start with 20 SP and regenerate 2 per room. Some skills are common, rare, or legendary — legendary skills are powerful but expensive.
Spirit Companions
Every character bonds with a spirit companion before their first run. Spirits give passive bonuses every run and deal bonus damage in combat. You earn rare spirits by defeating bosses and special enemies. Spirits are permanent — they stay with your character forever. You can change your active spirit between runs from the character screen.
Crypt of Malachar — Dungeon 1
The first dungeon. A thousand-year-old crypt ruled by the Undying King, Malachar. Undead enemies — skeletons, ghosts, wraiths. Standard dungeon mechanics. Recommended for all new players. The boss Malachar has three phases and summons adds in the final phase.
The Ashbound Wastes — Dungeon 2
A burning wasteland. Enemies deal fire damage. Some rooms have environmental fire hazards. The boss is The Eternal Pyre — an ancient fire entity. Unlocked after completing the Crypt. Harder than the Crypt, especially for classes with low defense.
Frosthold Abyss — Dungeon 3
A frozen abyss at the bottom of the world. Ice enemies that can freeze you in place. The boss is The Eternal Winter. Unlocked after completing the Wastes. Cold damage ignores some defenses — high HP classes recommended.
The Sunken Archives — Dungeon 4
An underwater library filled with drowned scholars. Unique lore fragment mechanic — find fragments scattered through rooms that build a complete story. The boss is The Head Archivist. Unlocked after completing the Abyss. Contains a unique secret room type.
The Hollow — Dungeon 5
An abandoned house. The strangest dungeon in the game. Has a weather system — every run rolls one of 5 weather conditions that change how the dungeon plays. Unique enemies include the Weeping Child (soothe it with the Music Box to unlock a later event), the Music Box itself, and the Uninvited Guest. The boss is The Last Resident. Completing the Hollow unlocks New Game Plus.
The Whispering Forest — Dungeon 6
A village killed a witch named Seraphine three years ago. Her dying curse consumes everything inside the forest. Unlock by completing The Hollow.
Corruption Bar — a green bar fills as you descend. It increases passively over time AND when enemies hit you. Reach 100% corruption and you die instantly regardless of HP or difficulty.
Music Box Item — drops every 3 floors. Go to your inventory and activate it manually to clear all corruption and play the melody. Plan ahead — if you miss a Music Box you may not survive.
Potions — in the Whispering Forest potions restore HP AND reduce corruption by 30%. Every potion decision matters more here.
Final Boss — Seraphine the Undying or The Corrupter. The game picks randomly each run. You never know which one is waiting on floor 10.
The Corrupted Chimera — guaranteed on floor 9 your first visit. Three corrupted parts each with unique mechanics.
The Infernal Descent — Dungeon 7
A dungeon of pure void and flame. Requires 100 trophies to unlock — the game checks automatically and unlocks it when you reach that threshold. Features void entities, infernal creatures, and devastating bosses across 3 tiers. Has its own music, ambient track, and weather system.
The Abyssal Deep — Dungeon 8
The bottom of the ocean where no light reaches. Unlocks automatically after completing The Infernal Descent. Features 9 unique ocean enemies — Tide Wraith, Drowned Sailor, Ink Fiend, Deep Stalker, Siren, Abyssal Eye and more, each with unique combat mechanics. The Leviathan is the final boss with 3 phases. Has 5 unique dungeon events including The Witness — a shark that has been watching you the entire run and becomes your permanent minion if you earn its trust. Has its own weather system, music, and ambient.
Dungeon Weather System
Every dungeon run rolls a random weather condition at the start. Each dungeon has its own weather pool. Effects include enemy ATK multipliers, gold boosts, HP loss per room, SP discounts, and healing per kill. The condition is announced by the screen reader and shown in the weather banner at the top of the dungeon screen.
Hollow Weather System
Every time you enter The Hollow the game rolls one of 5 weather conditions. Foggy Night adds 15 percent combat chance. Full Moon makes enemies 20 percent stronger but gold drops 50 percent more. Silent Night doubles Weeping Child spawn rate. The Witching Hour gives you 25 percent more damage but enemies crit more. Still and Cold has no effect — the house is just watching.
Difficulty Levels
Wanderer — 3 lives, normal damage. Recommended for new players.
Ironblood — 1 life, 10 percent more enemy damage.
Condemned — 1 life, 25 percent more damage, no shops.
Forsaken — 1 life, 50 percent more damage, enemies have more HP.
Forsaken — 1 life, maximum brutality, +50% enemy damage. Most never return.
Nightmare — 1 life, hardest possible, elite enemy variants everywhere.
Insane — 1 life plus a sanity bar. The dungeon affects your mind. At zero sanity the dungeon absorbs you.
New Game Plus
After completing all 5 dungeons with a character you unlock New Game Plus. NG Plus keeps your character's spirit but resets the run stats. Enemies are 20 percent stronger. Each subsequent NG Plus adds 5 percent more difficulty. There is no cap.
Hunter Mode
Enable Hunter Mode at character creation Step 9 or toggle it from the pause menu. Once active, a relentless hunter enters the dungeon behind you. It moves every time you move or kill an enemy. If you idle for 3 or more turns it rushes — moving 2 rooms per turn. The distance is announced every room change via your screen reader and shown on the hunter tracker bar at the top of the screen. At 5 rooms away the heartbeat sound begins and speeds up as it closes in. At 3 rooms away the music shifts to a dark tension track. At 2 rooms away a Fight or Run choice appears — you can face the hunter in a scaled boss fight or sprint away and buy one more turn. If you kill the hunter you earn the Hunter's Trophy item and Hunter Mode deactivates for the rest of the run. If it catches you — jump scare. A 💀 HC badge shows in the top bar when Hunter Mode is active.
Hunter Mode — Survival Tips
Keep moving — the hunter only catches you if you idle. Clear rooms quickly and always move after winning a fight. The mercy distance resets slightly when you advance a floor so floor transitions buy time. Fight the hunter at level 10 or above for the best chance — it scales with your level but so do your stats and skills. If you choose to run at 2 rooms it resets to 1 room — you only bought one turn so keep sprinting. The heartbeat speed tells you how close it is — when it hits maximum speed at 400ms intervals you are 1 room away.
Shadow Realm
The Shadow Realm is a hidden secret mode. To access it go to Settings, tap Redeem Code, and type SHADOW. A dramatic intro screen will appear and then character selection. The Shadow Realm is an endless wave survival mode — each wave spawns shadow entities that grow stronger over time. Every 10 waves a boss wave appears. Your score is tracked on a local leaderboard so you can compete against your own best runs. Void Reaper music plays throughout. The Shadow Realm does not save progress — each run starts fresh.
Boss Fights — Strategy Guide
Every dungeon boss has 3 phases. Each phase transition makes the boss stronger and changes its attack pattern. A boss preview screen shows the boss name and HP before combat begins — read it carefully. General tips: save at least 2 potions before floor 10. Use your strongest skill in phase 1 while the boss is weakest. Defend during phase transitions to reduce the burst damage. If you have a spirit active use its combat skill every cooldown. The boss scales with your player level so higher level characters face stronger bosses — there is no free ride.
Basic Combat Actions
Attack — always hits, deals standard damage. 10 percent chance to crit for 1.8x damage.
Heavy Strike — deals 1.7x damage but 30 percent chance to miss completely.
Defend — reduces damage this turn and deals a small counter hit.
Use Skill — activates one of your unlocked class skills. Costs SP.
Soul Trap — appears in combat when you have a Soul Trap in your inventory. Captures the current enemy as a permanent minion. Cannot be used on bosses.
Flee — attempt to escape combat. Success chance depends on your race and profession.
Elites and Bosses
Elite enemies appear on floors 4 and above. They have much higher HP and special abilities. Each dungeon has its own elite enemies. The boss appears on floor 10 and has 3 phases — each phase changes its attack pattern and gets stronger. The Secret Boss (DDDI) has a 2 percent spawn chance on floor 10 of any dungeon.
Insane Mode Enemies
The Sanity Drainer — appears only in Insane Mode. Drains 10 sanity on appearance and more every hit. Drops an Insanity Potion when defeated.
The Distorted — a psychological enemy with no HP damage. Every time it acts your screen reader fires rapid messages — Someone is watching you. Be careful. Run. You cannot escape. Meanwhile it drains your sanity silently. Defeat it by dealing HP damage normally.
The Insanity Bar
Only active in Insane Mode difficulty. Starts at 100 percent and drains 2 percent every 5 seconds passively. Taking damage drains it further. At 50 percent your screen reader warns you. At 25 percent the UI starts corrupting. At 10 percent log entries scramble. At zero the dungeon absorbs you — not death, just gone. Encountering Julio restores 15 sanity. The Insanity Potion either restores it fully or drains it massively — you never know which until you drink it.
The Music Box (Hollow only)
A special enemy found only in The Hollow. When it acts it plays a melody — a separate audio track begins, the Music Box deals 3 ticks of damage, then the melody fades and combat resumes. You cannot attack during the melody. If you soothed the Weeping Child earlier in the run, a special encounter with the Weeping Mother becomes available on higher floors.
Julio
A figure who appears randomly in dungeon rooms. He sits in the corner. His name tag says JULIO. Talking to him restores 15 sanity in Insane Mode. He also gives you a fragment — collect all 5 fragments across multiple runs to unlock his Library story. He signed the founding charter of the DDDI at 3AM. Nobody knows why. The Department has noted his absence 48 times.
Your Guide — Companion System
When you create a new character you are asked to name your guide at Step 9 — a companion who walks with you through every dungeon. She speaks during boss fights, level ups, low HP moments, achievements, hunter encounters, and death. Her portrait appears at the bottom of the screen whenever she has something to say. Tap the X button to dismiss her message. She stays consistent throughout every run.
💀 Hardcore Mode
Enable Hardcore Mode at the Difficulty step during character creation. In Hardcore Mode death is permanent — if your character dies they are deleted forever. No cloud save, no second chances, no retry. A HC badge appears in the top bar to remind you the stakes are real. Combined with Hunter Mode it creates the most intense experience Dungeon Descent offers.
⭐ Inventory Favorites and Auto-Sort
The inventory has a search bar at the top — type any item name to filter instantly. Tap the star button on any item to add it to favorites — favorited items always appear at the top of your inventory. Tap the sort button (⇅) to auto-sort everything by type — favorites first, then weapons, armor, potions, and materials.
🏆 The True Ending
Clear all 8 dungeons — the Crypt of Malachar, The Ashbound Wastes, Frosthold Abyss, The Sunken Archives, The Hollow, The Whispering Forest, The Infernal Descent, and The Abyssal Deep — and something special happens. A cinematic plays, a title is earned, and credits roll. You do not need to clear them all on the same character. Progress is tracked across all your runs forever.
The Chronicles
Accessible from the main menu. Contains four tabs — Lore (background on the dungeons and the world), Library (stories written about the dungeons, some unlockable), Journal (auto-written record of each character's runs), and Music Player (browse and play all tracks from the game). The Library includes the origin story of the dungeons and a story about how this game was actually built.
The Home
Buy a Home for 500 gold from inside any dungeon. Once purchased it persists for that character forever. Inside Home you have 4 tabs — Home tab (Bed for 75g restores HP and SP, Safe to deposit gold), Spirits tab (Spirit Forge shortcut), Minions tab (manage captured minions), and Forge tab (craft weapons from materials). Access Home from the dungeon action bar between fights.
The Spire
Standalone mode, climb 1800 floors. Death sends you back one floor only. Rest floors every 10 floors. Blacksmith available mid-climb. 9 unique bosses scaling to The Time Eater at floor 1800. Gold milestones at floors 100, 200, 300, 500, 750, 1000 and 1500. Auto Mode advances automatically.
Daily Dungeon and The Gauntlet
Daily Dungeon — a new challenge every day with 2 random modifiers. Resets at midnight. Found under Challenges. The Gauntlet — all dungeons back to back, one life, HP carries over. Clear everything for the Gauntlet Champion achievement.
Global Gold System
All gold earned anywhere feeds a single shared wallet. Spend it at the main menu Blacksmith between runs. Your balance shows live on the Blacksmith screen.
Procedural Room Sequences
Every floor generates a room sequence with possible special rooms — Treasure Chamber (loot, no combat), Sanctuary (heal 20% HP), Cursed Chamber (elite, triple gold), Hidden Passage (secret gold), and Wandering Merchant (mid-dungeon shop with 4 to 5 items).
Runes and Scrolls
Runes — found in dungeons and shops. Strength adds 6 ATK, Protection adds 5 DEF, Speed makes flee always work, Fortune adds 25% gold, Vitality adds 20 max HP. Scrolls — Reveal shows next 3 rooms, Smite deals 80 unblockable damage, Mending heals 50% max HP, Knowledge shows enemy stats before combat.
Set Bonus System
Equip a matching weapon and armor to unlock a set bonus. Shadow Set gives dodge and ATK. Ember Set gives ATK and fire damage. Frost Set gives DEF and freeze chance. Forest Set gives ATK and DEF. Void Set gives ATK and life drain.
Level Points System — 6 Stats
Every level up gives 3 points to spend across 6 stats. Unspent points carry over between levels. STR — Strength adds 2 ATK per point. STA — Stamina adds 10 max HP per point. DEF — Defense adds 2 damage reduction per point. INT — Intelligence adds 5 max SP per point, making skills cheaper to sustain. AGI — Agility adds 3% crit chance and 5% flee chance per point. LCK — Luck adds 10% gold drops and better loot quality per point. Choose stats that match your playstyle — a high INT Wizard can spam skills all day while a high STR Warrior hits harder but runs out of SP faster.
Corruption System
Optional mode in character creation step 9. Every death adds corruption. At 25% the dungeon whispers. At 50% a Corrupted Hunter stalks you. At 75% skills backfire. At 100% you enter a Corruption Run with doubled gold and legendary rewards.
Daily Descent Rewards
A badge on the main menu. Tap it to claim your daily reward. 7-day cycle from 25 gold up to 300 gold plus Mystery Coins and Soul Fragments. Streak carries over. Never forces a popup.
Skill Orbs and Offline AFK
Skill Orbs — when a character with upgraded skills dies, their skills become class-locked Skill Orbs. Use one on a new same-class character to unlock that skill instantly. Offline AFK Catch-up — come back after 1 or more hours away and a popup shows what your AFK character earned while you were gone. Capped at 8 hours.
Fourth of July Event
Active July 1st through July 7th. All gold and XP drops are increased by 76 percent as a nod to 1776. Redcoat enemies invade all dungeons during the event. Enemies have a 15 percent chance to drop a Firework item — use it in combat for 80 plus level times 5 unblockable AoE damage. Every 3rd attack triggers the Sparkler buff dealing bonus fire damage equal to your level times 2.5. Eagle's Cry skill reduces enemy attack by 30 percent for 3 turns. The Fireworks Corner appears at Home — launch fireworks to earn bonus XP. The Independence Tournament sets a personal score target — reach it for first place gold and trophies. Type the number 4 in the Redeem Code box for a secret exclusive patriot minion only available during this event.
The Siege
Found in the main menu. The Siege is a fortress defense mode where you defend your base against 10 waves of enemies. Your base has durability instead of HP — if it reaches zero you lose. Before battle upgrade your base using gold and Wave Points. Your character gets a 20 percent HP bonus when entering The Siege. If your HP drops below 50, the enemy switches from attacking you to attacking your base. Heal up fast or your base will fall. Each wave the enemy is 20 percent stronger. Defeat enemies to earn gold and Wave Points — Wave Points are earned by dealing 50 or more damage per wave. Use the Repair Kit between runs to restore base durability. Upgrade your base to level 5 to increase maximum durability. Station captured minions to fight alongside you. If you lose your base falls back to 50 percent durability but you keep your level and Wave Points.
The Bounty Board
Found in the main menu. The Bounty Board presents 3 randomly generated bounties per day. Each bounty has a target objective, a specific dungeon, and a gold and trophy reward. Register for one bounty at a time by pressing the Register button. Your active bounty tracks progress automatically as you play — kills, floor reached, and boss defeats all count. Complete the bounty to instantly receive your reward. You can refresh the 3 bounties up to 5 times per day. You do not have to accept any bounty — it is completely optional. Abandon a bounty at any time from the Bounty Board screen.
Beta Features
Found in Settings under Beta Features. These are experimental systems that can be toggled on or off. Currently one beta feature exists — the Subclass System. When enabled, at level 5 you are prompted to choose a subclass that specializes your character for the rest of the run. Toggle it off at any time to return to normal gameplay.
Subclass System (Beta)
At level 5 a subclass selection screen appears. Every class has 2 subclasses to choose from. Your choice is permanent for that run and cannot be changed. Each subclass gives a unique passive ability, automatic stat bonuses, and changes how your class plays. Examples — Warrior can become a Warlord (gains ATK every kill) or Gladiator (crits hit 2.5x harder). Wizard can become Archmage (more SP, cheaper skills) or Spellblade (melee deals arcane damage). Assassin can become Shadow (guaranteed first crit every combat) or Poisoner (every attack poisons). Your subclass name appears next to your class in the dungeon top bar. Requires Beta Features to be enabled in Settings.
6 Stats — Level Point System
Every level up gives 3 points to spend across 6 stats. STR Strength adds 2 ATK. STA Stamina adds 10 max HP. DEF Defense adds 2 damage reduction. INT Intelligence adds 5 max SP. AGI Agility adds 3 percent crit chance and 5 percent flee chance. LCK Luck adds 10 percent gold drops. Unspent points carry over between levels. Subclasses at level 5 also grant automatic stat bonuses based on their specialization.
Hall of Records and Hall of Legends
The Hall of Records tracks your lifetime statistics — total kills, runs completed, gold earned, and more. It has three tabs. Stats shows your lifetime numbers. Milestones shows reward tiers for reaching certain stats. Legends tracks your personal bests forever — most kills in a single run, highest damage hit, deepest floor reached, first time you completed each dungeon. These records persist even if you delete the character.
Daily Raid and Raid Tiers
The Daily Raid lets you fight 5 waves of enemies without risking your dungeon character. Complete all 5 waves to earn gold and Mystery Coins. Raid Tier 1 (default) gives 1 Mystery Coin. Complete 3 total raids to unlock Tier 2 (Veteran, 2 coins). Complete 5 total raids to unlock Tier 3 (Nightmare, 3 coins). Mystery Coins are spent in the Coin Shop for permanent upgrades that apply to all future runs.
Boss Rush
Fight all 9 dungeon bosses back to back in a single session. No dungeon exploration — just bosses. Each boss has their 3-phase fight. Completing Boss Rush gives a large XP bonus and a special achievement. Your score is based on how many bosses you defeat and how fast.
Julio Questline
Every time you encounter Julio in the dungeon he gives you a fragment — a note, a memo, a name tag, a lunch schedule. Collect all 5 fragments across multiple runs with any character. When you collect all 5 a new Library story unlocks — written entirely by Julio himself, explaining who he is and why he is always in the dungeon. The explanation is completely mundane. Achievement: Found Him.
Character Backstory System
Step 7 of character creation (optional). Choose a backstory for your character — each one grants a small permanent bonus for that run and automatically writes your first journal entry. You can press Skip to go straight into the dungeon without choosing one. The journal entry appears in your character journal in The Chronicles.
Death Cinematic
When you die the screen goes dark and a unique line plays before the defeat screen. The line is specific to your dungeon, the floor you reached, and the enemy that killed you. The Weeping Child, Music Box, and Oldest Guest in The Hollow each have their own unique death lines. Your screen reader reads the line fully before the run summary appears.
Run Start Quotes
Every time you start a run your screen reader reads a single line specific to your class and dungeon combination. 60 unique lines total — one for each of the 12 classes in each of the 5 dungeons. The line sets the tone for the run before the dungeon intro begins.
Minion System
Capture enemies as permanent allies using a Soul Trap item. Buy Soul Traps from the dungeon shop for 60 gold. When you have one in your inventory a Soul Trap button appears in combat — use it on any non-boss enemy to capture it. You can have up to 8 minions. Manage your minions from the Home screen under the Minions tab. Activate one before any mode and it auto-attacks alongside you every combat round.
Weapon Forge
Craft custom weapons from materials dropped by enemies across all modes — dungeons, Spire, Raid, and AFK. Each enemy kill has a 15% chance to drop a material. Rarer materials come from deeper floors. Access the Forge from Home under the Forge tab. Choose a recipe, spend the materials, and the weapon is crafted with a random special effect — Burning, Life Steal, Keen Edge, and more. Spend 2 Iron Scraps to reroll the effect. Crafted weapons go to your global inventory.
Trophy System
Every achievement now rewards gold and trophies when unlocked. Easy achievements give 50 gold and 1 trophy. Medium give 150 gold and 3 trophies. Hard give 400 gold and 7 trophies. When you first open the game after updating, all previously unlocked achievements are retroactively rewarded. Your trophy count appears on the main menu — tap it to see your full collection. Reaching 100 trophies unlocks The Infernal Descent automatically.
Starting Skills
Every class now begins floor 1 with their signature skill already unlocked. Warriors start with Shield Bash, Assassins with Backstab, Wizards with Arcane Bolt, and so on for every class. The starting skill is removed from your skill pool so you will not be offered it again when leveling up.
Home Screen Tabs
The Home screen inside the dungeon now has 4 tabs. Home — bed, safe, and gold management. Spirits — Spirit Forge shortcut. Minions — manage your captured minion collection, activate or release them. Forge — craft weapons from materials. Access Home from the dungeon action bar at any time between fights.
Enchanter Item
The Enchanter is a rare item that provides free Blacksmith upgrades. When you have an Enchanter in your inventory the Blacksmith upgrade button stays enabled regardless of your gold — the display shows Enchanter Active in place of the gold cost. Each Enchanter has 3 charges. Enchanters transfer to your global inventory when a run ends so they are accessible from the main menu Blacksmith.
New Dungeon Unlock Popup
When you unlock a new dungeon a one-time popup appears on the character select screen with the dungeon name, description, and details. It only ever appears once per dungeon. The popup plays the unlock sound and your screen reader reads the full announcement.
Achievement Notifications
When an achievement unlocks a visual popup appears in the bottom right corner and your screen reader announces it automatically. You can turn the visual popup on or off in Settings under Accessibility — Achievement Notifications. Your screen reader will always announce achievements regardless of this setting.
Reset All Progress
Found at the bottom of Settings in the red Danger Zone section. Pressing Reset Game opens a confirmation screen listing everything that will be deleted — all characters, achievements, bestiary entries, Hall of Legends records, Library story progress, dungeon unlocks, Mystery Coins, Julio questline progress, and all settings. You must press Delete Everything to confirm. This cannot be undone. The dungeon will not remember your name.
The Spire
A standalone mode accessible from the main menu. 1800 floors of escalating difficulty ending with The Time Eater at the top. Your floor progress never resets — death sends you back one floor, not to the beginning. Every 50 floors is a rest floor with healing, gold, and lore about The Time Eater. Defeating The Time Eater rewards 1000 gold, 25 Mystery Coins, and a 25% Blacksmith discount for 2 hours. Auto Mode lets the Spire advance automatically — unlocks at Level 5. Use the character slider to pick your champion before entering.
Death Log
Accessible from the character list screen using the Death Log button next to the back button. Shows every death for every character — the floor they fell on, what killed them, which dungeon, difficulty, kills earned, gold carried, and a flavor line from the dungeon. Total deaths shown across all characters at the bottom.
Blacksmith
The Blacksmith appears inside dungeons and has two tabs — Upgrade and Buy Weapons. Upgrade spends gold to improve your equipped weapon or armor. Buy Weapons lets you purchase from a catalog of 8 weapons using gold. Your first weapon is always free — a Worn Blade available from the Buy Weapons tab. Weapons go into your inventory. Open inventory to equip them. Blacksmith profession gets a 10 percent discount on all upgrades.
🏹 General Survival Tips
Never skip the first shop. A potion on floor 1 can save your run on floor 7. Always keep at least 1 potion in reserve for the boss fight. Search every room before moving — searched rooms can reveal hidden loot. Flee is not failure — sometimes running is the smartest move. Defend when your HP drops below 30 percent to cut incoming damage in half.
⚔ Class Strategy Guide
Warrior and Paladin — attack every turn, use Heavy Strike when HP is high. Tank hits, never flee. Mage and Sorcerer — save SP for elites and bosses. Use basic attacks on weak enemies to conserve. Rogue and Assassin — open every fight with a skill for the first-hit bonus, then spam crits. Cleric — heal between floors using skills, save potions for emergencies. Necromancer — capture a minion early and keep it alive all run. Ranger — always open with your strongest skill for the double damage first hit bonus. BloodKnight — stay at medium HP to maximize lifesteal, never fully top off.
🐉 Boss Fight Strategies
Enter floor 10 with at least 2 potions and full HP. Use your strongest skill immediately in phase 1 — the boss is weakest here. When phase 2 triggers defend on that turn to absorb the spike damage. In phase 3 go all out — use every skill you have. If your spirit has a combat ability use it every single cooldown. The boss preview screen tells you the boss HP — plan your skill rotation before you press Face It.
🏹 Hunter Mode Survival
The key is momentum — never idle. Kill enemies fast and keep moving. Use floor transitions strategically — advancing to the next floor resets the hunter distance slightly. Fight the hunter only at level 8 or above. Before the fight make sure you have full HP and at least 1 potion. When choosing between Fight and Run — if you have a strong skill ready, fight. If your HP is below 50 percent, run.
💰 Gold and Economy
Prioritize potions over weapons early game — surviving matters more than damage output on floors 1 through 5. On floors 6 through 9 invest in weapon upgrades at the Blacksmith to spike your damage for the floor 10 boss. Soul Traps are worth buying on any run — a permanent minion companion adds free damage every fight for the rest of the run. Never spend your last gold on something optional before the boss floor.
⚗ Building a Strong Character
Pick a class that matches your playstyle first. Then choose a race that amplifies it — Human for balanced stats, Elf for SP and skills, Dwarf for HP and defense. Choose a spirit that covers your class weakness — a healing spirit on an aggressive class, a damage spirit on a defensive class. At level 5 choose your subclass carefully — check both options and pick the one whose passive works with how you already play. Upgrade your weapon at least twice before floor 8.
🌑 Shadow Realm Strategies
The Shadow Realm gets harder fast — focus on survival not speed. Defend every 3 turns to recover HP since there are no potions. Prioritize killing the weakest enemies first to build your score safely. On boss waves switch to full offense — they have high HP but the wave ends when you kill the boss. The longer you survive the higher your leaderboard score — every wave counts.
💀 Hardcore Mode Tips
In Hardcore Mode every decision is permanent. Start on Wanderer difficulty your first hardcore run — do not combine Hardcore with Nightmare until you know the game deeply. Never fight elites without full HP. Always have a potion before floor 7. Flee aggressively — your character's life is worth more than the gold from one fight. The hunter is a death sentence in Hardcore — either ignore Hunter Mode entirely or fight the hunter the moment the choice appears before it can catch you off guard.
🏆 Road to Dungeon Master
To unlock The True Ending you need to clear all 8 dungeons — progress is saved across all characters. A smart route: start with Crypt of Malachar on Wanderer to learn the basics. Then Ashbound Wastes, Frosthold Abyss, Sunken Archives in any order. The Hollow is the hardest mid-game dungeon — do it last in the first half. Save The Infernal Descent and The Abyssal Deep for when your characters are experienced. The True Ending rewards patience, not speed.
Screen Reader Support
Dungeon Descent was built specifically for JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver users. Every combat action, room description, enemy attack, level up, item found, achievement unlock, and event is announced automatically. You never need to read the screen manually — the game reads itself to you.
First Launch Prompt
On first launch the game asks if you are using a screen reader. Pressing Yes enables all accessibility features at once — Verbose Mode, Screen Reader Headings, Combat Announcements, Reduced Motion, and Screen Reader Mode. You can also enable or disable each feature individually in Settings under Accessibility.
Screen Reader Headings
When enabled in Settings, the game injects heading roles throughout every screen. H1 for screen titles and dungeon floor names. H2 for section titles, menu buttons, tabs, character names, and enemy names. H3 for individual bestiary entries, achievements, library stories, and skill names. With headings on you can press H in JAWS to jump instantly between sections instead of tabbing through everything.
Verbose Mode
When Verbose Mode is on your screen reader announces extra detail about every action — full damage numbers, miss explanations, skill descriptions when used, item descriptions when found. When off announcements are shorter and faster. Recommended on for new players, can be turned off once you know the game well.
Combat Announcements
When on your screen reader announces every combat event in detail — your damage, enemy damage, crits, misses, status effects, skill activations. When off only the most important events are announced. Combat Announcements is separate from Verbose Mode — you can have one on and the other off.
Custom Track and My Tracks
Go to Settings → Audio → scroll down to find the Custom Track section.
Load from File — tap Choose Audio File and pick any audio file from your device. Works with MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG and more. iOS users can pick from the Files app. The track plays immediately and you are asked if you want to save it.
Load from URL — paste a direct link to an audio file hosted online. The URL is saved permanently so it loads automatically next time.
Save to My Tracks — when a custom track starts playing the game asks what you want to call it. Give it a name like Leo's Battle Theme or Self Destruct Sequence 123 and it saves to My Tracks. Files are stored on your device using IndexedDB — they survive app restarts and do not count against the game's storage.
My Tracks — found at the bottom of the Music Player. All your saved tracks appear here. Tap one to play it. Tap the X button to delete it. Custom tracks loop continuously just like the game soundtrack.
Music Player
Found in The Chronicles under the Music tab. Browse all 29 tracks in the game grouped by dungeon. Select any track and press Play — the music player uses its own audio system separate from the game so it works from the menu without needing to enter a dungeon first. Press Stop to stop playback. The player also tells you which audio files are missing if you have not added them yet.
Reduced Motion
When on disables ember particle effects, grain overlay animation, vignette animation, and torch flicker. Reduces visual noise for players who prefer a cleaner interface or have motion sensitivity. Has no effect on gameplay.
Endless Descent — AFK Mode
A separate game mode found in the main menu. Auto-combat that runs on its own — your character fights while you watch or step away. Infinite floors with scaling enemies. Find loot, level up, earn Descent Points to spend in the AFK shop on permanent upgrades. Boss floors every 25 floors. Daily AFK Challenge for bonus points. Exclusive enemies appear on floors 20 and beyond that only exist in Endless Descent.
Tournament
A seasonal competition that runs every 3 months for 7 days. A unique boss appears and you fight it for score. Damage dealt plus speed bonus plus survival bonus equals your tournament score. Damage counts even if you die — your best score this season is always saved. Win the boss for maximum points and earn Mystery Coins. Global leaderboard shows top 10 scores. Requires an account to appear on the leaderboard.
The Void Reaper
A world event that builds over 7 days. A progress bar appears on the main menu as the Void Reaper awakens. When fully awake a 300 HP boss fight becomes available. Players get a strength bonus. Damage carries over between attempts — every hit counts even if you die. 3 phases, each stronger. Defeat him in 16 hours or all dungeon enemies are 25% stronger for 24 hours as punishment. Win to earn Mystery Coins.
Account System
Optional cloud save system. Sign in with email or Google to save your progress to the cloud. Your account is not required to play — the game always saves locally no matter what. Sign in and your cloud save loads automatically. Sync to Cloud button confirms success. Delete Account removes only the cloud account — local saves are never touched. Required for tournament leaderboard appearances.
Night Mode
Every night from 8PM to 8AM Night Mode activates automatically based on your device clock. You earn 50% more gold from all sources and shop prices are 25% cheaper. Stacks with all other active events — Night Mode during Void Week means massive gold. A banner on the main menu and in the dungeon shows Night Mode is active and how many hours remain.
Seasonal Events
Events activate automatically based on the date and time. Halloween (October) — 12 special enemies, +25% XP, enemies 30% stronger. Christmas (December) — Krampus and crew, +15% XP. Easter (April 5-7) — The Easter Bunny appears. Fight it, adopt it as a spirit companion, or let it go for gold. XP Weekend (Saturday and Sunday) — 2x XP. Void Week (Monday) — 2x gold, enemies 20% stronger. Blood Moon (days 1-7 each month) — enemies hit harder. Architect Week (days 8-14) — Julio appears 3x more often. The Events screen in the main menu shows all active and upcoming events.
High Score and Ranks
Every action in the game earns score points. Kills earn 10 points each, elite kills 150, boss kills 500, dungeon clears 1000, achievements 250, daily quests 300, gold collected 1 point each. Your lifetime total score determines your rank — from Initiate all the way up to DDDI Certified at 100,000 points. View your score breakdown and rank from the High Score button on the main menu.
Character Import and Export
Export any character as a code using the Export button in the character list. The code contains everything about that character — class, race, skills, death log, earned spirits. Share the code with another device or person and import it using the Import button. Useful for backing up characters or sharing your build with friends.
Run Summary Screen
After completing a dungeon a full run summary appears showing enemies slain, floor reached, level, gold collected, time taken, spirit companion, skills unlocked, total score and rank. Each class and dungeon combination has a unique closing line — 60 lines total written specifically for each combination. The summary also shows your score earned this run and your overall rank progress.
The Chimera
A special multi-part enemy that can appear in any dungeon on floors 5 and above. 17% spawn chance. The Chimera has three parts — Lion Head, Goat Body, and Serpent Tail — each with their own HP and unique mechanic. The Goat Body regenerates 8 HP per turn. The Serpent Tail poisons you every turn. Kill all three parts to win. In the Whispering Forest a special Corrupted Chimera is guaranteed on floor 9 your first visit with three unique corrupted parts.
Dev Tools
Found at the bottom of Settings. Allows unlocking all dungeons instantly for testing, resetting dungeon unlocks, resetting the screen reader prompt to show it again, and forcing the 67 Easter egg button to appear. These are developer tools and not part of normal gameplay.
Selection Sliders
Every selection screen in the game has a slider above the options. On VoiceOver swipe up to go to the next option, swipe down to go back. On JAWS use the arrow keys. The ◀ and ▶ buttons work as a tap fallback on any device. Sliders are available for class, race, profession, dungeon, difficulty, and backstory in character creation. They are also on every character picker — the character list, AFK setup, The Spire, Boss Rush, Daily Raid, and Tournament. The character list slider also has a Play button so you can play your character directly from the slider without navigating into the cards.
Persistent Level System
Characters earn persistent levels through AFK mode and dungeon runs. This level carries across all modes and is never lost on death. Your level is shown on your character card, in all character pickers, and in the slider. Level 5 or higher unlocks Auto Mode in The Spire. Higher levels increase your base stats in AFK and Spire runs.
⌨ PC Only — Keyboard Commands
These commands only work on desktop with a keyboard. On mobile everything works by touch — these shortcuts do not apply. JAWS or NVDA will announce when a command is used.
Navigation — Alt + Key
Ctrl+Shift+H — Main Menu
Ctrl+Shift+P — Character List
Ctrl+Shift+B — Bestiary
Ctrl+Shift+Q — Quests and Achievements
Ctrl+Shift+E — Events Screen
Ctrl+Shift+S — Settings
Ctrl+Shift+R — High Score
Ctrl+Shift+L — Chronicles
Ctrl+Shift+N — New Character (from main menu)
Ctrl+Shift+Enter — Quick Play with last character (from main menu)
Combat — Alt + Key (Dungeon, Spire and Raid)
Alt+A — Attack
Alt+H — Heavy Strike
Alt+D — Defend
Alt+P — Use Potion
Alt+F — Flee (dungeon only)
Alt+R — Read current status (floor, HP, gold)
These combat keys now work in The Spire and Daily Raid in addition to normal dungeons.
Dungeon Exploration — Single Key (outside combat)
I — Open or close Inventory
S — Save progress
K — Open Skill Book
C — Character Stats
Backspace — Open or close Pause Menu
Pause Menu
Desktop — press Backspace anywhere in the dungeon to open the pause menu.
Mobile — tap the ⏸ button in the dungeon topbar next to the quit button.
The pause menu shows your character name, current floor, dungeon and HP. Options are Resume, Save, Settings, Quests and Main Menu. Cannot be opened during combat.
Escape Key
Escape — Closes any open overlay.
In the dungeon outside combat — press Escape and the game asks if you want to return to the main menu. Press Enter to confirm and save. Press Escape again to cancel and stay.
Cannot be used during combat.
