Dungeons Of Eternity's Tomb Extraction Update Is A Rune-aissance For An Aging Game

The free Tomb Extraction update for Dungeons of Eternity adds an entertaining, albeit limited, new type of dungeon to a game in need of a change of pace going into its fourth year of release.

Dungeons of Eternity turns three years old in a few days (October 5) and across all the various updates adding new weapons, enemies, limited-time events and expansions to the outposts, the three dungeon types have always been the constant. Collect souls to craft potions in green Soul Harvest dungeons. Build exo-points to unlock perks in blue Crystal Hunt dungeons. Pick up new weapons, armor, cosmetics, and other loot in the red Dungeon Raids.

Developer Othergate has offset this with new room designs, but the core objectives have really never changed. In that respect, the new Tomb Extraction mode is a breath of fresh air. Most of this article will focus on the new mode, but the update also added a lot of quality-of-life features you can read about here.

A new area of the main outpost introduces the rune system that generates your extraction dungeon. You enter a sequence of runes to determine the layout, loot, and difficulty for the run. The biggest change in extraction runs is your loadout, or rather, the lack of one. Tomb extractions are naked runs, with all of your inventory and weapon slots emptied out. Upon loading in, you enter a room with the five weapons available to you:

• The Crypt Keeper’s Staff shoots out an orb of light that illuminates crystals to light the dark dungeons. Orbs can also be exploded by pressing the trigger for an effective AOE attack.
• The Tomb Breaker Hammer is needed to smash sealed tombs open for loot and is very useful against armored enemies.
• The Gravelight Bow also illuminates crystal lights and explodes on impact.
• The Necromancer Staff will charm an enemy, giving you an extra ally to fight with.
• Skull Daggers can be found throughout the tomb and are all-around weapons for combat.

This is a welcome change of pace and challenge compared to the other three dungeons, but it comes with two side effects. First, solo runs force you to pick up the bow or staff unless you want the extra challenge of feeling your way through an eerily pitch black map. I did this once and did not care for it. Also, unless you have unlocked a second shoulder slot or care to brave the darkness, you cannot also take the hammer to bust open sealed tombs and thus miss out on the loot contained within. For this reason alone, Tomb Extraction is significantly more enjoyable with a friend or three, more so than any other dungeon type except maybe Soul Harvest. Having most or all of the new weapons in the party makes for a more satisfying run.

Second, being limited to five weapons also restricts the combat. Exploding enemies with the orb staff was a lot of fun, but by my fifth run (two in co-op, three solo), it already started to wear thin with the daggers and hammer being the primary melee weapons. The enemy variety is pretty basic, mostly sticking to skeletons and the lone new enemy, the Crypt Guard. The guard is easily dispatched with daggers or the hammer, but DoE’s signature breezy combat, excellent music, and sound design remain satisfying and fun.

The other new element of Tomb Extraction is the loot. You have two new slots, a ring for each hand. There are over thirty rings to be found in Tomb Extraction, each with their own perks to further expand DoE’s already extensive player customization system. Rings can only be acquired in Tomb Extraction, offering a reason to grind this dungeon type, especially for tenured players who have most or all of everything else in the game unlocked. Also, it felt like extraction-run chests were more lucrative, with higher gold amounts than others. This might have just been my perception though.

You start with a handful of runes unlocked for dungeon generation. To get more and open up more extraction options, you have to complete Dungeon Raids (the red dungeons) and locate four runic blocks to insert into a special chest. Unlocking this chest gives a new rune type and a gem that must be inserted to activate the extraction run. These gems can be purchased in the outpost shop, but new runes can only be acquired from red dungeons. It’s a smart, well-designed loop that gives new and old players a reason to run two dungeon types more often.

A new dungeon type has felt long overdue for Dungeons of Eternity and the added wrinkles of player-driven tomb generation, naked runs, and lighting requirements make Tomb Extraction a fun change-up to the rest of the game. Tying Tomb Extraction to Dungeon Raid was a savvy decision to extend the longevity of the new content in the three-year-old roguelite overall. If you have not been back in Dungeons of Eternity for some time, Tomb Extraction is worth diving back in for.