Weekly Challenges
Weekly challenges are a game mode featuring rule-bending gameplay designed to create unique challenges and puzzles. Each weekly challenge is played with a predetermined set of Heroes, Traps, Guardians, and Gear. Some example rulesets are "each hero has only one HP" or "no Coin is generated outside the starting Coin."
The weekly challenge changes each week on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Central Time or 5:00 p.m Central European Summer Time.
The weekly challenge can be accessed via both the play and profile tabs.
Earning Rewards
The weekly challenge is eligible for regular battleground rewards, including hero victory chests, 3-star Chests, and 5-star chests. Completing each challenge with all three heroes will earn three hero victory Chests. In addition, obtaining 3- or 5-stars for the first time awards a tiered (apprentice, war mage, master, or rift lord) chest corresponding to each player's highest unlocked difficulty.
Each weekly challenge also features a leaderboard. Challenge friends, guildmates, and the entire OMD!U community for the top score each week! Don't be discouraged if these challenges require multiple attempts. They're designed to encourage trial and error, problem-solving, and practice.
List of Weekly Challenges[ | ]
| Battleground | Preview | Map | Heroes | Traps | Description | Waves | Par Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Hero's Litter | 
|
The Canals | Maximilian, Hogarth, Ivy | Barricade, Big Game Hunting Arrow Wall, Big Game Hunting Ballista, Big Game Hunting Zapper | Battle enemy heroes and their tiny kobold friends in this weekly challenge. | 5 | 6:00 |
| The Merc's Litter | 
|
Confluence | Maximilian, Hogarth, Ivy | Barricade, Big Game Hunting Arrow Wall, Big Game Hunting Ballista, Big Game Hunting Zapper | Battle enemy mercenaries and their tiny kobold friends in this weekly challenge. | 5 | 6:00 |
| Freezed to Meet You | 
|
Riftmaker's Temple | Tundra, Hogarth, Zoey | Barricade, Ice Vent, Ice Shard, Icicle Impaler, Saw Of Arctos, Mana Well | It's all ice, ice, baby! All the enemies on this level deal frost damage, and so do all the heroes and traps. Do you have what it takes to thaw this challenge out? | 6 | 7:15 |
| Library-rinth | 
|
Archmage Library | Cygnus, Smolder, Oziel | Barricade, Tar Trap | Use barricades to turn this library into a bookshelf maze if you want a chance to win this weekly challenge! | 6 | 10:00 |
| Rift Instability | 
|
Stables at Eventide | Bionka, Tundra, Blackpaw | Arrow Wall, Viscous Tar, Ceiling Ballista, Floor Spikes, Flip Trap | Something has gone terribly wrong with the rifts at this jungle fortress. Stop the unstable rifts and the enemies controlling them. | 5 | 5:30 |
| Fun with Physics | 
|
Thuricvod Village | Gabriella, Zoey, Ivy | Flip Trap, Push Trap, Spike Wall, Haymaker | Give your enemies a physics lesson. Achieve victory with only physics traps to beat this challenge. | 6 | 6:15 |
| Dodge City | 
|
Gates of Thuricvod | Gabriella, Zoey, Smolder | Flip Trap, Push Trap, Floor Spikes, Grinder, Shock Zapper, Wall Blades | Ranged minions roam this battleground backed up by their heavy friends. Your hero better learn how to duck and dodge to complete this challenge. | 5 | 7:30 |
| Rolling in it | 
|
Academy Sewers | Dobbin, Cygnus, Smolder | Great Wall Barricade, Ceiling Ballista, Brimstone, Haymaker, Shock Zapper, Spike Wall, Viscous Tar | You'll need to be rolling in it to afford these traps. Good things come to those who wait | 6 | 8:00 |
| We Can Rebuild It | 
|
Docks at Eventide | Stinkeye, Gabriella, Midnight | Barricade, Viscous Tar, Flip Trap, Wall Blades, Shock Zapper | Be prepared to build and rebuild your killboxes to deal with waves of every minion and boss type Centre has to offer. You'll have to think quickly about your strategy to complete this challenge! | 4 | 8:20 |
| Inferiority Complex | 
|
The Falling Folly | Hogarth, Bloodspike, Bionka | Barricade, Spike Wall, Push Trap, Boom Barrel, Flip Trap, Powerup Damage, Concussive Pounder | Assert your superiority by surviving this challenge as a melee hero with 1 health. Keep your eyes peeled for archers! | 6 | 6:00 |
| Your Own Devices | 
|
The Wall | Smolder, Midnight, Oziel | Great Wall Barricade | Use the Great Wall Barricade and little else but your hero's abilities to keep enemies out of your rift in this challenge. Don't forget to bring some gear! | 6 | 7:30 |
| One and Done | 
|
Restricted Section | Cygnus, Maximilian, Zoey | Barricade, Ceiling Ballista, Floor Spikes, Push Trap, Grinder, Spike Wall, Tar Trap | In this challenge, your rift starts out with one rift point left before it fails. Keep ALL enemies out of it or you'll be "one and done! | 6 | 10:00 |
| Alms for the Poor | 
|
Storm Drain | Hogarth, Smolder, Blackpaw | Great Wall Barricade, Tar Trap, Arcane Phaser, Ice Shard, Arrow Wall, Web Spinner, Lightning Rod | Your hero will have to rely on handouts in this challenge. Once the hero's starting coin runs out, the only coin generated in the level is the coin that drops with each wave--no coin from combos, kills, or abilities. Don't forget to pick up coin! | 6 | 11:00 |
| Do The Trap Shuffle | 
|
Temple Graveyard | Cygnus, Blackpaw, Tundra | Barricade, Brimstone, Temple Alarm Gong, Boom Barrel Roller, Wall Blades, Haymaker | In this challenge, you start with all the trap money you're going to get, and your main weapon does no damage. Use your traps, abilities, and gear to stop the waves of Unchained minions! | 6 | 6:00 |
| Off the Chain! | 
|
Maximum Security | Oziel, Cygnus, Bloodspike | Barricade, Decoy, Summoner Trap, Arcane Bowling Ball, Overload Trap, Saw Of Arctos | Your hero will have to stay Unchained to tackle all the heavy units and bosses this challenge throws at you. Luckily, some Unchained drops will help you along the way. Make sure to pick them up and keep your Unchained meter glowing and going. | 5 | 6:40 |
| Doublets! | 
|
Orcatraz | Temper, Tundra, Zoey | Tar Trap, Flip Trap, Floor Spikes, Arrow Wall, Dragon's Lance | No, you're NOT seeing double. In this weekly challenge, waves double in size each wave for 5 waves. Do you think your hero can stop this prison break? | 5 | 6:00 |
| Vanishing Act | 
|
Frostbite | Gabriella, Ivy, Zoey | Tar Trap, Flip Trap, Floor Spikes, Spitfire Wall, Dragon's Lance | Sneaky, invisible enemies are trying to overtake Frostbite Fortress in this weekly challenge. Damage them to knock them into visibility and defeat them. | 6 | 7:30 |
| Playing With Fire | 
|
Banquet Hall | Hogarth, Ivy, Zoey | Shield Powerup, Powerup Damage, Healing Well, Mana Well, Big Game Hunting Ballista | Start at battle level 3 equipped with only coin and mostly non-damage dealing traps in this weekly challenge. Minions are exceptionally lethal and come from unstable rifts at every angle too. Don't let this challenge burn you out! | 5 | 5:30 |
| Gotta Go Fast | 
|
Orcatraz | Temper, Cygnus, Dobbin | Tar Trap, Flip Trap, Floor Spikes, Arrow Wall, Dragon's Lance | Everyone's in a hurry in this weekly challenge. Both minions and heroes move at increased speed, but don't count on getting a break for your hero to catch its breath, This challenge has NO go breaks. | 5 | 4:00 |
| Purple Maze | 
|
Eventide Fortress | Gabriella, Oziel, Stinkeye | Barricade, Great Wall Barricade, Viscous Tar, Cursed Ground, Brimstone, Wall Charger, Shock Zapper | Purple it up with OMD!U's arcane-pòwered heroes and maze it up with totally free barricades and traps. But be prepared; this challenge features HUGE waves of minions after the first wave. | 6 | 12:00 |
| I'm the Boss Now | 
|
The Baths | Deadeye, Cygnus, Midnight | Big Game Hunting Arrow Wall, Big Game Hunting Ballista, Big Game Hunting Zapper | This challange pits you against numerous bosses. Take them down using big game traps | 5 | 4:00 |
| Keep Your Distance | 
|
Training Grounds | Deadeye, Maximilian, Ivy | Barricade, Tar Trap, Brimstone, Spitfire Wall, Grinder, Dragon's Lance, Mana Well | This challenge puts a large aura around your Hero that heals minions. Defeat the minions at long range. | 6 | 10:30 |
| Grand Finale | 
|
Midnight Market | Zoey, Maximilian, Ivy | Boom Barrel, Viscous Tar, Great Wall Barricade, Power Generator, Coin Forge, Healing Well, Mana Well, Decoy | Chain boom barrel explosions together to defeat the Wu Xing dynasty. | 6 | 5:00 |
| Memory Lanes | 
|
Water Garden | Maximilian, Zoey, Ivy | Brimstone, Floor Spikes | Survive a single wave without using the minimap. You'll need to use your memory to keep track of where enemies are coming from. | 1 | 4:00 |
More Information (Blog from ShadeDev)[ | ]
With update 1.6, we introduced the concept of Weekly Challenges, a familiar concept from Orcs Must Die 2. In short, weekly challenges are scenarios with specific parameters and dramatic alterations to gameplay that rotate on a weekly basis. In other words, specific tools are provided to solve a very specific puzzle.
We have loved our community’s responses to these challenges and would like to provide more detail on the design principles that guide their creation. In general, when building a weekly challenge, we have several goals:
- Create a puzzle that takes multiple attempts to solve.
- Subvert normal gameplay.
- Introduce and teach different strategies.
Puzzles That Require Multiple Attempts
Due to the fact that only one challenge is available each week, we try to make the weekly challenges noticeably difficult. While experienced players may have a general advantage, all trap upgrades and account level bonuses are removed during the challenge to level the playing field and provide a uniform experience.
The overall win rate for most weekly challenges is 50%. Of those victories, 65% are between 1 and 3 stars. Keep in mind however, that the first-attempt win rate is much lower. Losing on the first attempt is a normal experience, and each failure should better equip players for success the next round. In addition, we don’t expect every player to be able to 5-star weekly challenges; many are difficult puzzles that require mastery of advanced game mechanics. The goal of these challenges is to provide a puzzle that isn’t conquered in a single attempt.
Dramatically Altering Normal Gameplay
When designing a weekly challenge, we typically start off by brainstorming interesting rule modifications. This can be along multiple vectors, such as player inventory, heroes, or direct rule changes.
For example, the initial design of “Inferiority Complex” was simple; the waves would be comprised of highly damaging minions. However, as the design team began discussing the design further, we began to think of variations on that concept that would challenge players more and alter gameplay more significantly. By cutting player health to one, restricting the challenge to melee heroes, and limiting direct trap damage, the challenge's dynamic changes substantially. Players must find ways to control aggro, damage enemies from afar, or risk instant death. Suddenly, a wave of six light orcs, which is normally easy to handle, becomes a massive threat.
It is these type of gameplay alterations that allow us to drive new experiences every week.
Introducing and Teaching Different Strategies
Another goal of our weekly challenges is to encourage the use of different strategies and introduce newer players to intermediate and advanced tactics. This is achieved through rule alterations (like the ones we made with Inferiority Complex) which allow players to use heroes and items that they may not own or have upgraded, or restricting the use of common items in favor of rarer, situational items.
For example, in the weekly challenge “Playing with Fire,” players face many unstable rifts and order mages. However, we provide players with Big Game Hunting arrows to kill Unstable Rifts. The player is not forced to utilize this strategy, but the challenge becomes significantly harder if it is not. This is not a common strategy outside of the weekly challenge, but due to its design, players walk away with increased understanding of Big Game Hunting traps. We hope that these types of challenges will serve as excellent opportunities to learn, try new strategies, and use advanced tactics for future challenges.
The design team thoroughly enjoys coming up with new weekly challenge ideas, and we are glad that the community continues to give us great feedback.[1]
Scoring[ | ]
Visit Weekly Challenges Scoring for all the info about scoring in Weekly Challenges.