Minecraft Dungeons 'Flames of the Nether' DLC: Post-release, features, free update, and everything you need to know

Everyone and their parents know about Minecraft, which remains one of the world's most popular games today. A little newer, but still excellent, is Minecraft Dungeons, a game from Mojang Studios that takes place inside the expanding Minecraft universe. Instead of an open world with crafting and survival mechanics, Minecraft Dungeons is a classically-inspired, co-op-focused ARPG with hordes of enemies, piles of loot, and tons of secrets to uncover.

Minecraft Dungeons has expanded rapidly since its initial launch with a ton of DLC expansions. Now we're onto expansion number four with Flames of the Nether, which finally takes Minecraft Dungeons to the fiery dimension filled with new threats, new locations, and new adventures.

Here's everything you need to know about the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons.

When is the release date for the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons?

The Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons released on Feb. 24, 2021 for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PCs, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch. There was also a free update and free cosmetic items available to all players that launched at the same time.

Minecraft Dungeons is also available through Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, but the Flames of the Nether DLC is not included on those services. You'll have to either purchase the expansion separately for $6 or pick up the Minecraft Dungeons Season Pass, which includes Howling Peaks, Flames of the Nether, and two more expansions that will go underwater and to the End. You can check out our full guide on which version of Minecraft Dungeons to buy for some guidance.

Finally, Minecraft Dungeons is available through Xbox Cloud Gaming (Project xCloud), where it remains our top pick for Best Game on Xbox Cloud Gaming for its fantastic touch controls. The Flames of the Nether DLC is also available there and only requires that you've purchased it or the Season Pass for Xbox consoles.

What is the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons?

Minecraft Dungeons is built on a solid foundation of fantastic and rewarding gameplay, but it was undeniably light on launch content. Fortunately, Mojang Studios and Double Eleven have been hard at work fixing this weakness with post-launch updates and expansions. Three expansions were previously released for Minecraft Dungeons; including Jungle Awakens and Creeping Winter as part of Minecraft Dungeons: Hero Edition, and the Howling Peaks DLC, which is the first of four expansions included with the Minecraft Dungeons Season Pass.

Every expansion so far has also launched a free update, which has varied in importance and size with each DLC.

That brings us to the latest DLC: Flames of the Nether. Launched alongside the game's largest free update yet, Flames of the Nether concludes months of speculation that began right after Minecraft Dungeons initially launched by bringing the ARPG to the Nether from Minecraft.

Rumors that Minecraft Dungeons would eventually come to the Nether began when players (including the Windows Central team) discovered a gently-hidden broken Nether Portal in the game's Camp hub shortly after launch. The Nether Portal could only be accessed after beating the Arch-Illager for the first time and didn't appear to have any other functions. Months later, our first official tease came during Minecraft Live.

What do I need to know about the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons?

Flames of the Nether is one of the most significant and most ambitious expansions yet for Minecraft Dungeons. We gleaned a ton of information from announcements and official teasers from before the expansion's release, like this Minecraft Dungeons' dev diary, which you can watch just above. Now that the update is fully released, we can spill all the details you need.

Levels and missions

Our first stop in our tour of the Flames of the Nether DLC is the locales. Mojang Studios is taking Minecraft Dungeons to new heights by including a staggering six missions in Flames of the Nether, twice as many as any of the previous expansions. You'll have to explore every level to learn all of its secrets, but we can at least tell you where they're going to take you.

Flames of the Nether takes place in the most recent version of the Nether introduced in the Nether Update, which means a ton more biomes for players to explore. The levels we know of include:

• Nether wastes. While this sounds like a fun name for a brand-new biome, this is the rebranded name for what the Nether used to be. For an introduction into the Flames of the Nether DLC, there's no better place to start.
• Basalt delta. Basalt deltas offer some of the most gorgeous vistas in all of the Nether in exchange for being covered in a thick blanket of ash, pools of lava, and hopping hoards of magma slime.
• Warped forest. These lively biomes are amongst the "safest" in the Nether and are filled with green-blue foliage and trees. Expect to find ender men here if Minecraft Dungeons follows the rules set by Minecraft.
• Crimson forest. Crimson forests will also be prevalent in Flames of the Nether. These locations are bright, aggressive, and filled with potential baddies like piglins and hoglins.
• Soulsand valley. These are desolate fields of soul sand and soul soil. Beyond slowing you down and crippling your movement, they're also filled with bones — both of the long-dead and the still-walking skeletons.
• Nether fortress. The final stop in the Flames of the Nether DLC is a massive and winding Nether fortress, which in Minecraft is typically home to the worst of the worst.

Beyond the locations we know Minecraft will go, there are still bastion remnants (the home of piglins) and ruined portals (Nether portals that have been destroyed) that can make appearances throughout Flames of the Nether. Mojang Studios also had to get creative with Mojang Studios building Flames of the Nether for Minecraft Dungeons, with all-new environments, objects, textures, and more.

This gives Minecraft Dungeons plenty of ways to squeeze six full-sized missions from the Nether, complete with secrets and more. Flames of the Nether is absolutely one of the most visually stunning updates we've seen for Minecraft Dungeons so far.

Gear and items

As an ARPG, loot is the biggest draw of Minecraft Dungeons. The constant search for new, more powerful gear of all kinds of rarities by battling hordes of enemies draws players towards these kinds of games. Every expansion so far has added at least a handful of new loot to the expanding pool in Minecraft Dungeons, and Flames of the Nether is no different.

Just like with locations, the Nether provides tons of opportunities for Mojang Studios to introduce new gear. From flame-based enchantments and weapons, sturdy netherite gear and armor, and even new Unique gear, there's a ton that can be done.

Of course, there is also new artifacts that give players special abilities.

Here's all of the gear we've already seen in the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons:

• Golden Piglin Armor: Unique armor that grants a chance to gain consumables on artifact use, resets artifact cooldowns with potion use, and increases artifact damage.
• Living Vines Armor: Unique armor with reduced roll cooldown that makes health potions heal allies and rolls trap and poison enemies.
• Bone Cudgel: Unique weapon that does increased damage to Illagers and has lots of pushback.
• Mechanized Sawblade: Unique weapon that has long continuous attack.
• Weeping Vine Bow: Unique bow that has charged arrows after rolling.
• Pride of the Piglins: Unique crossbow with a wind-up attack and a chance to fire piercing shots.
• Slayer Crossbow: Unique crossbow that hits multiple targets and has powerful shots.
• Piglin Armor: Normal armor that resets artifact cooldowns with potion use and increases artifact damage.
• Sprout Armor: Normal armor that makes health potions heal allies and rolls trap and poison enemies.
• Boneclub: Normal weapon that has lots of pushback.
• Broken Sawblade: Normal weapon that has continuous attacks.
• Twisting Vine Bow: Normal bow that deals damage.
• Cog Crossbow: Normal crossbow with a wind-up attack.
• Thundering Quiver: Artifact that grants thundering arrows.
• Spinblade: Artifact that ricochets across the battlefield and deals damage.
• Blast fungus: Artifact that flies in multiple directions and explodes, dealing damage.
• Powershaker: Artifact that causes your next few melee attacks to deal explosive damage.

Finally, we know that the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons introduces all-new top-tier equipment called Gilded gear. It's only obtainable through endgame missions known as Ancient Hunts (more on those later), and it's even more potent than Unique gear. Gilded gear possesses an extra enchantment slot over normal gear. However, the trade-off for such incredible power is that enchanting Gilded gear costs more points.

Mobs and bosses

One of the most notable changes made in the Nether Update was the vast array of diverse mobs that exist in their fiery ecosystem. This gaggle of ghastly mobs (yes, and Ghasts) makes for the perfect enemies in the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons.

The mobs (and boss(es)?) we know about in the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons include:

• At least five piglin variants. In the Nether, the headlining mob is the piglin, a pseudo-civilization with mobs that have an unnerving fascination with gold and generally don't like it when people touch their things. In teasers for Flames of the Nether, we've seen a basic piglin with a sword, an armored piglin, a piglin with a crossbow, and an ax-wielding piglin berserker. There's also the new piglin fungus thrower, which tosses fungus grenades to deal explosive damage.
• Magma slime. These hoppy bois are very similar to the regular slime we've already seen in Minecraft Dungeons, but they're also on fire.
• Wither skeletons. Wither skeletons are blackened skeletons with deadly swords that apply a "wither" effect upon hit. Whether or not the "wither" effect makes an appearance in Minecraft Dungeons is unknown, but I'd still expect these baddies to put up a deadly fight. Wither skeletons can also wield bows in Flames of the Nether, making them even more dangerous.
• Blaze. These are ranged enemies that rapid-fire blazing fireballs at their opponents while flying and are some of the more annoying mobs in Minecraft. Expect blaze to be just as fatal in Minecraft Dungeons and Flames of the Nether as in vanilla Minecraft.
• Ghast. Everyone's favorite mob powered by cat noises, ghasts are ghost-like creatures that fire massive explosive fireballs. Ghasts could appear as stronger base mobs or could end up being a mini-boss with a health bar, like the ender man. I'd put my money on the latter.
• Hoglins. The aggressive pig-like creatures that can provide food in the Nether, will also be making an appearance in Flames of the Nether, and they don't seem to happy to see you.
• Zombified piglins. It looks like the zombified versions of piglins will be joining the vast army of enemies players will have to face in Flames of the Nether.

Those are all the mobs we can safely identify in official teasers, but a few more things could make an appearance. We'll just have to wait and see.

That takes us to the subject of bosses. While the ghast is a likely candidate for a suitable mini-boss that breaks up levels and provides an additional challenge, what about the main boss? Without any further information, it would stand to reason that the brutal Wither will take up the mantle. The Wither is dangerous, has varied attack patterns, and, well, already exists.

However, the main teaser for Flames of the Nether may give us a sneak peek at what the real main boss could be. In the lower right-hand corner, we see something that looks like a combination between a mega-Ghast and a ghost-squid. Since key images for previous expansions also contained hints for the main boss, it stands to reason that this mysterious creature will represent the apex of the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons.

Endgame changes

One of the biggest complaints levied against Minecraft Dungeons was the lack of meaningful endgame content. While the game was plenty fun, it quickly became repetitive as players burned through the limited amounts of content, hitting a max power level in less than 30 hours of playtime. Mojang Studios massively improved this situation with Apocalypse Plus mode, which added a further 20 difficulty levels and massively increased the power ceiling for characters. However, Apocalypse Plus was a tad unbalanced and felt unfair to casual players.

Despite this change, there were still weaknesses in Minecraft Dungeons' endgame content.

Fortunately, the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons has a plan to fix this. It's adding procedurally-generated missions, which players have been pining for since launch. Apocalypse Plus also gets a ton of tweaks and changes to make it fairer, add even more to do, and help it meld better with the aforementioned procedurally-generated missions. Before release, Mojang Studios helped break down what to expect with these changes.

Here's what you need to know about all the endgame changes in the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons:

Ancient Hunts

As part of the free update dropped alongside Flames of the Nether, Mojang Studios and Double Eleven added missions called Ancient Hunts. These procedurally-generated missions give players agency over what they place, provide nearly endless content to replay, and add a new level of difficulty and reward to Minecraft Dungeons.

These endless missions weave in and out of existing Minecraft Dungeons content and the Nether, and will be able to pull from the entire massive pool of mobs, loots, and locations already present in the game. While this all sounds very exciting, Ancient Hunts change a few things about Minecraft Dungeons' tried and tested gameplay loop.

Source: Mojang Studios

Unlike normal missions that are relatively set in stone and can be played at any point, Ancient Hunts need to be opened by players. To open a new Ancient Hunt, players choose what to "input," effectively controlling how the Ancient Hunt will end up generating. The combined power of items you give has to be at least 100. Opening an Ancient Hunt means permanently giving up items and enchantment points to get new and exciting missions, but it also gives you control over what kind of experience you can expect.

You can give up Unique, rare, and common items, and even artifacts, and all of your items will have different runes that directly affect what you might find in your Ancient Hunt (and means it's not random - there's a system at work here). If you give up enchantment points as well, you have a much better chance of finding the best and rarest loot in your Ancient Hunt.

Whenever an Ancient Hunt is opened, players can choose to attempt to conquer the entire (large) mission all at once or drag it out over multiple play sessions. Inside, players will run into new and familiar threats and have a chance to find rare secrets and powerful rewards. The ultimate goal of tackling an Ancient Hunt, however, is defeating an intimidating Ancient mob.

Ancient mobs are extra-powerful versions of enchanted mobs, giving players a difficult obstacle to overcome. In exchange for defeating an Ancient mob, however, players have a chance to earn a brand-new tier of powerful loot in the form of Gilded gear, which has a gold sheen and thumbnail versus the orange of Unique gear.

Gilded gear can come in common, rare, and Unique varieties of gear you already know and love but have one key difference: Gilded gear can have an extra, random ability on top of what that piece of gear normally has. This means Gilded gear can be the most incredible and useful loot in the entire game, with a few caveats:

• In exchange for an extra ability, Gilded gear costs more to enchant across the board
• Gilded gear can only be obtained from Ancient mobs in Ancient Hunts
• Each Ancient Mob has a specific loot pool that players earn their reward from
  • To find specific Gilded gear, you'll need to defeat specific Ancient mobs

This all means that Ancient Hunts are extremely high-risk, high-reward. In exchange for permanently sacrificing gear and enchantment points, players have a chance to overcome new challenges, explore new locations, and possibly defeat an Ancient mob to obtain the most powerful gear in the game. To have a better chance of finding Ancient mobs, players can also permanently give up their enchantment points.

Ancient Hunts provide players a way to spend their excess resources and equipment and to make the economy in Minecraft Dungeons more complex overall. Also, the plan is for players to revisit Ancient Hunts repeatedly as they battle through the newly revamped Apocalypse Plus mode, which is receiving a ton of changes in the Flames of the Nether update:

Apocalypse Plus

Apocalypse Plus mode was added for free during Minecraft Dungeons' Halloween event and provided a great injection of endgame content for players to explore. Apocalypse Plus added 20 new difficulty levels beyond what the game previously offered, on top of massively increasing the maximum power level for gear.

While Apocalypse Plus mode was a great addition, it was far from perfect. Exponential difficulty increases meant many players were never going to reach the end, as Apocalypse Plus became astronomically more difficult towards the final levels. There were also several loadouts and play styles that could exploit Apocalypse Plus, and more dedicated Minecraft Dungeons players could reach the end of Apocalypse Plus with relative ease (most notably by replaying shorter levels like Arch Haven).

This combination meant Apocalypse Plus alienated casual players while not giving veteran players enough content to keep them satiated.

In Flames of the Nether, Apocalypse Plus gets some serious updates to make it more consistent, fair, and to add even more on top of what's already present. All these changes come as part of the Flames of the Nether's free update, meaning all players will be able to take advantage.

• 20 becomes 10. The 20 existing levels in Apocalypse Plus mode are being condensed down to just 10, with larger gaps in between difficulty levels. Players will spend more time at each level instead of being able to push through nonstop.
• 10 becomes 25. On top of the existing Apocalypse Plus content, which has been condensed down to 10, Minecraft Dungeons is adding 15 new difficulty levels. This means players who beat Apocalypse Plus mode will have brand-new content.
• Even moar power. Because Apocalypse Plus is expanding with new levels, the game's maximum power level for gear is also increasing. At Apocalypse Plus 25, the maximum level for gear will be around the 250 mark, which is a huge increase over what was there previously.
• Consistent challenge. The difficulty for Apocalypse Plus is being tweaked and rebalanced. Increases will be more consistent and fair across the board, while difficulty spikes at the end of Apocalypse Plus have been minimized. Veteran players will still find a challenge, while casual players will be able to realistically reach the end as well.
• Progression requirements. Every third level of Apocalypse Plus, starting at the fourth, will require players to clear a certain number of boss missions to unlock additional levels. This way, players won't be able to abuse shorter levels to progress through Apocalypse Plus quickly and will have to clear difficult boss missions to move forward.
  • Progression through Apocalypse Plus now looks like this: 1-3 require no boss missions, 4-6 require one boss mission, 7-9 require two, 10-12 require three, 13-15 require four, 16-18 require five, 19-21 require six, and, finally, Apocalypse Plus 22-25 require seven completed boss missions to unlock.

Other endgame changes

Besides Ancient Hunts and Apocalypse Plus changes, Flames of the Nether adds two more endgame changes. Just like with the previous endgame additions, these are also included as part of the free update launching alongside Flames of the Nether.

First, a new currency besides emeralds is being introduced in the free update - gold! Gold can be found in brand-new chests either in Ancient Hunts or Flames of the Nether missions. So what can gold be spent on, and how does it differ from emeralds?

Well, this shiny new currency can be turned around and spent at the brand-new Piglin Merchant, who joins other vendors in the Minecraft Dungeons camp like the Blacksmith vendor, Mystery Merchant vendor, and more.

The Piglin Merchant is an all-new vendor that will setup shop in your Camp as soon as you earn your first piece of gold. Don't worry; this piglin has figured out a way to live in the Overworld without becoming zombified and is happy to conduct business with you.

In exchange for your gold, the Piglin Merchant will offer a variety of gear and items. The Piglin Merchant even has a small chance to offer the supreme loot in Minecraft Dungeons: Gilded gear. Save all the gold you collect on your adventures, and be sure to check in with the Piglin Merchant regularly for new ways to spend it.

Emeralds are still very much here and will still be used to spend at the other five vendors currently in Minecraft Dungeons.

Other additions

We've gone over everything we know about the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons except for a handful of loose ends. Most updates for Minecraft Dungeons have included a handful of smaller changes or additions, like new cosmetics or skin options, and Flames of the Nether is no different.

10 new Achievements join Minecraft Dungeons' existing pool with Flames of the Nether-themed challenges for players to complete.

The paid Flames of the Nether expansion includes two new skin choices for characters and a Baby Ghast cosmetic pet that joins the ranks of Baby Chicken, Arctic Fox, Parrot, and Baby Goat.

On top of that, Minecraft Dungeons celebrates 10 million players by dropping a free cape and Baby Pig cosmetic pet that's be available to everyone for free alongside the Flames of the Nether DLC.

Finally, Flames of the Nether includes the usual batch of balancing tweaks as part of its free update - with a handful of surprise additions as well! Flames of the Nether adds brand-new enchantments to the Minecraft Dungeons pool that players will be able to discover on their gear.

New enchantments include:

• Pain Cycle (Melee)
• Artifact Synergy (Melee)
• Cooldown Shot (Ranged)
• Shock Web (Ranged)
• Artifact Charge (ranged)
• Reckless (Armor)
• Beast Burst (Armor)
• Beast Boss (Armor)
• Beast Surge (Armor)
• Fire Focus (Armor)
• Lightning Focus (Armor)
• Poison Focus (Armor)
• Soul Focus (Armor)

These enchantments will offer players new ways to play and hopefully make the regrettably weak companions in Minecraft Dungeons a more viable option for endgame loadouts.

What is the free update with the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons?

Every expansion that's launched for Minecraft Dungeons has included some kind of free update. In some cases, it's been a ton of balancing changes and bug fixes, while another expansion added major additions like a revamped Camp with all-new vendors. The Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons is no different. It will be launching alongside a free update available to all players, regardless of whether they purchased the major expansion.

Furthermore, the free update dropping alongside Flames of the Nether is arguably the largest and most ambitious free update so far and should make dedicated Minecraft Dungeons players very happy. Here's what you can expect in the free update:

• Ancient Hunts. These are procedurally-generated missions that provide endless content for Minecraft Dungeons' endgame. Ancient Hunts will be challenging, diverse, inspired by the Nether, and include other new additions to Minecraft Dungeons.
• Gilded gear. Gilded gear is ultra-powerful gear that possesses an additional enchantment slot in exchange for increased enchantment costs across the board. Gilded gear comes in all kinds of varieties and can only be found in Ancient Hunts or at the Piglin Merchant.
• Gold. A new currency is joining the emerald-based economy in Minecraft Dungeons with gold, which can be found in new chests either in Ancient Hunts or Flames of the Nether missions. Gold can be turned around and spent on the new Piglin Merchant vendor.
• Piglin Merchant. A new vendor is joining the Camp in Minecraft Dungeons. The Piglin Merchant trades in rare and powerful items but will only accept the new gold currency. If you're lucky, you'll even be able to find Gilded gear for sale at the Piglin Merchant's shop.
• Apocalypse Plus changes. The Apocalypse Plus mode that added a considerable amount of endgame content to Minecraft Dungeons is getting an update with all-new difficulty levels, higher power levels, and balancing and tweaks across the board for casual and veteran players alike.
• New enchantments and balancing. Flames of the Nether is adding a ton of new enchantments to the game's existing pools. New enchantments include options for pet-focused builds, as well as a new class of enchantments that deals damage based on specific types like poison, souls, and more. Several existing enchantments will also be rebalanced.
• Ten new Achievements. For players who seek additional motivation to complete their favorite games, Minecraft Dungeons is adding another ten Achievements / trophies for players to earn in Flames of the Nether.
• Free cosmetic items. The free update alongside Flames of the Nether will include a cosmetic cape and a Baby Pig pet that everyone can redeem, as part of Minecraft Dungeons' celebration of 10 million players.

What is the price for the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons?

The Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons may come with a substantial free update, but the majority of content there will still need to be purchased.

We know that Flames of the Nether is included in the Minecraft Dungeons Season Pass for $20, including Howling Peaks, Flames of the Nether, and the next two expansions for Minecraft Dungeons.

Flames of the Nether can also be purchased separately, and fortunately costs the same as previous expansions (despite its added content).

As always, anyone can access content from DLC expansions, including Flames of the Nether, by playing with a friend who has purchased it. If you play Minecraft Dungeons co-op with someone who owns the Season Pass, for example, you'll be able to play all the levels and gain all the rewards by playing in their lobby.

Are there Xbox Series X|S Optimizations in the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons?

Minecraft Dungeons already looked and played great on practically every platform it's available on, but it has noticeably lacked any next-gen enhancements for the powerful Xbox Series X|S duo (an ailment that also unfortunately afflicts Minecraft). With Flames of the Nether, this is finally rectified. Minecraft Dungeons is now Optimized for Xbox Series X|S with the Flames of the Nether update, and those enhancements are free for all players.

Minecraft Dungeons already supports Microsoft's Auto HDR feature on Xbox Series X|S, and did not add native HDR support in this update.

The Xbox Series X|S enhancements for Minecraft Dungeons includes:

• Up to 4K resolution and 120fps on Xbox Series X
• Up to 1440p resolution and 60fps on Xbox Series S
• Variable resolution and framerate in local co-op

What is the full changelog for the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons?

Alongside all of the major changes we've already gone over in our comprehensive guide to the Flames of the Nether DLC for Minecraft Dungeons, there are also lots of smaller changes, quality-of-life improvements, balancing changes, and bug fixes. Fortunately, we also have the full changelog to spill it all.

The full changelog for Minecraft Dungeons' 1.8.0.0 Flames of the Nether update includes:

Free update

Ancient Hunts

• Ancient Hunts are procedurally-generated end-game missions that weave in and out of the Nether. To access an Ancient Hunt, you'll need to sacrifice some of your items. The combination of items changes which rare Ancient mobs you may encounter. Investing enchantment points further increases your chances of encountering ancient mobs. Defeating these mobs gives you brand-new Gilded gear, which is more powerful than anything you've yet encountered!

Gilded gear

• Gilded gear drops are part of the free update as ultra-rare items with an extra Enchantment slot built-in, making them some of the most powerful items in the game. To get these end-game level items, you'll have to face the Ancient Hunts and travel to the dangerous Nether

Gold currency & Piglin Merchant

• Once you get your first bit of gold from Ancient Hunts, the Piglin merchant will set up shop in the mysterious cave that's popped up near camp. Trade the gold for items and possibly even rare Gilded gear!
• Please note that gold must be earned in-game and cannot be purchased

Xbox Series X|S Optimized

• Minecraft Dungeons is now Optimized for Xbox Series X|S consoles!
• Xbox Series X supports up to 4K resolution and 120 FPS
• Xbox Series S supports up to 1440p resolution and 60 FPS
• These resolutions and frame rates are variable and will lower while playing four-player local co-op

New enchantments

• Pain Cycle (Melee)
• Artifact Synergy (Melee)
• Cooldown Shot (Ranged)
• Shock Web (Ranged)
• Artifact Charge (ranged)
• Reckless (Armor)
• Beast Burst (Armor)
• Beast Boss (Armor)
• Beast Surge (Armor)
• Fire Focus (Armor)
• Lightning Focus (Armor)
• Poison Focus (Armor)
• Soul Focus (Armor)

Free cosmetics

• The Minecraft Dungeons community has reached ten million players! To celebrate the amazing players supporting the game, we're releasing a free cape and pet as part of this update

Return to Checkpoint

• If you ever find yourself stuck in the world and unable to move, head to the menu and select the "Return to Checkpoint" option!

New Achievements

• 10 new achievements / trophies to unlock on your adventures

Paid DLC

DLC features

• Journey to the heart of the Nether in six new missions that will let you explore the Minecraft universe in an all-new way. The adventure ahead will bring new artifacts and gear for those who are brave enough to face the fiery wrath of the Nether's dangerous mobs
• Two new player skins and a Baby Ghast pet

New weapons

• Broken Sawblade (melee)
• Mechanized Sawblade (Unique)
• Boneclub (melee)
• Bone Cudgel (Unique)
• Twisting Vine Bow (ranged)
• Weeping Vine Bow (Unique)
• Cog Crossbow (ranged)
• Pride of the Piglins (Unique)

New armor

• Sprout Armor
• Living Vines Armor (Unique)
• Piglin Armor
• Golden Piglin Armor (Unique)

New artifacts

• Blast Fungus
• Powershaker
• Spinblade
• Thundering Quiver

Balance changes

Arch Haven & Soggy Swamp

• The unlock locations of these secret missions now always appear on Pumpkin Pastures and Soggy Swamp

Apocalypse Plus

• The previous twenty Apocalypse Plus levels have been compressed into ten levels
• Characters that had reached +20 prior to this update will now have +10 unlocked. Their gear will remain unchanged
• 15 additional Apocalypse Plus levels have been added, bringing the total up to 25
• Each Apocalypse Plus level now increases gear power and mob stats more than previously
• The difficulty curve has been adjusted behind the scenes such that Apocalypse Plus gives you a similar or slightly more difficult degree of challenge early on but is significantly easier towards the end
• Every third Apocalypse Plus level now requires completing one or multiple boss missions to finish. Sorry, that means you can't get to the end by playing Arch Haven many times over!
• There is no longer a small chance for mobs to respawn while playing on high Apocalypse Plus levels
• Drastically lowered the frequency of tier 2 and 3 variants of mobs (such as armored Zombies and Illagers) on Apocalypse Plus difficulty. This makes the gameplay feel more varied and alternating in pace and level of challenge when fighting mobs

Mob enchantments

• Electrified interval from every 5s -> 4s
• Electrified damage from 150 -> 90
• This means that Electrified's damage per second from mobs has gone from 30 to 22.5

Blacksmith

• Each apocalypse plus threshold is now also a threshold for upgrading items at the Blacksmith

Enchantment slots

• Bosses in Apocalypse are now more likely to drop triple-enchanted items
• Item drops now become guaranteed to have three enchantment slots partway through Apocalypse Plus

Artifact cooldown effects

• Cooldown decrease from armor buffed from 30% to 40%
• Cooldown decrease from a single enchantment slot buffed from ~30% to ~40%
• Stacked cooldown decreases from multiple sources of different types will now have diminished benefits
  • Example: Using Evocation Robes and 3x maxed out Cooldown enchantments, the cooldown change would go from an 87% decrease to a 77% decrease
• Overall, this is a buff to most cooldown combinations, and a slight nerf to cooldown builds that use a cooldown armor with two or more stacked Cooldown enchantment slots. We're hoping it will free up some enchantment slots for use on other things, while simultaneously fixing a few issues with stacking cooldowns we had previously

Ravager

• Charge attack damage 350 -> 175

Rampart Captain

• Damage 440 -> 300

Wind Caller

• Updraft damage 110 -> 80

Wolf

• Health 100 -> 200
• Damage 85 -> 100

Mace

• Third attack from 225 area -> 250
• Third attack damage from 90 -> 140

Katana

• Attack speed increased by ~30%

Daggers

• Range increased from 330 -> 350

Rapier

• Damage increased from 11 -> 13 (and 60 -> 70 for last attack)

Soul Scythe

• Damage 75 -> 80
• Splash factor 0.75 -> 0.85

Hunting Bow

• Increased quiver size by 50%
• Decreased charged shot damage multiplier from 2.5 -> 2.0

Power Bow

• Damage increased by 33%
• Fixed an issue where charged attacks weren't extra strong as described

Trickbow

• Damage increased by 20%
• Projectile speed increased by 20%

Windbow

• Increased quiver size by 20%

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue when attempting to delete a character while on "Create New Character" would delete a random character
• Fixed the threat slider moving back to the recommended threat level as soon as a new mission is started
• Fixed the explosion effect appearing underground for the Mountaineer and Rampart Captain
• Fixed Squall Golems and Ravagers not attacking summoned mobs
• Fixed the mission image staying red after adjusting threat level from Apocalypse Plus
• Fixed German subtitles in the outro of Desert Temple
• Fixed a crash that could occur when opening a chest on Pumpkin Pastures during 4-player local co-op, as well as other interactable items
• Fixed collisions on multiple walls and objects in several missions
• Fixed the texture of the Redstone Monstrosity's head in the Camp house
• The loading screen now shows the proper chosen threat level for Apocalypse Plus
• The mission select map screens and settings screens can now be fully navigated with keyboard on PC
• Made several improvements and fixes to text-to-speech functionality in the menus
• Local co-op players can no longer be accidentally added if the friend screen is open after the player dies
• Fixed the Howling Peaks screen linking to the base game on the Nintendo eShop
• The mouse indicator no longer stays on items in merchant screens after changing the input from mouse to controller on PC
• Fixed a non-dismissible "controller disconnected" warning displayed after unsuspending the game from Sleep Mode and pairing a Pro Controller on Nintendo Switch
• Effects and sounds are no longer played twice for weapons with Shockwave if playing as a client
• Fixed issues with Xbox players being unable to rejoin session after losing network connection
• Improved messaging when linking to a Microsoft Account on Nintendo Switch while logged into that account on another device. The message now clarifies that "You are signed in to this game on another device. To use this Microsoft Account, sign out on the other device first"
• Goat and Arctic Fox pets now play the correct sound when equipped
• Lift gates in Windswept Peaks now play sounds when opening and closing
• Improved line spacing of text in several areas of the menus

Known issues

• In rare cases, multiple Ancient Mobs may spawn at once
• Completing missions in multiplayer as a client who does not have the level unlocked can fail to count towards Apocalypse Plus unlock progress
• Rarely, rolling off the map in certain areas in Warped Forest may cause the player to respawn at the beginning of an Ancient Hunt
• The objective marker can fail to guide players through the Nether Fortress mission
• Environmental fires in Nether missions do not damage players or mobs
• The Pain Cycle gilded enchantment description does not mention the health cost mechanic

Minecraft Dungeons is always better when played with a friend, but this is especially true when you're venturing into the dangerous and wild Nether. Never miss a moment with one of the best headsets for Xbox Series X|S, which combines excellent in-game audio with superb built-in mics.

Minecraft Dungeons

Main

• Unlock all Minecraft Dungeons levels
• All Minecraft Dungeons Unique Gear
• All Minecraft Dungeons Weapons
• All Minecraft Dungeons Armor
• All Minecraft Dungeons Enemies
• Best Minecraft Dungeons Builds