Minecraft Dungeons releases 'Howling Peaks' DLC and Season Pass, free update available to all

Minecraft Dungeons Dlc Howling Peaks Windswept Peaks (Image credit: Mojang Studios)

What you need to know

Minecraft Dungeons is the co-op focused ARPG spin-off of Minecraft, which brings entirely new gameplay to the Minecraft universe.
The game has already released two expansion packs, included in the Hero Edition, but the game is moving on with all new updates.
The first of four confirmed expansions releases today, alongside a free update and a Season Pass that will include all four expansions.
The Howling Peaks DLC adds a brand-new area with enemies, gear, puzzles, and a brand-new boss in the Tempest Golem.

Minecraft Dungeons has been an enticing addition to the growing Minecraft franchise, with two expansions already released with Jungle Awakens and Creeping Winter already out in the wild. Now, Minecraft Dungeons is moving into the next phase of its existence, making good on promises made at Minecraft Live. Today, the Howling Peaks DLC, alongside a free update and new Season Pass, are now available to all Minecraft Dungeons players on every platform.

The Howling Peaks DLC is the third expansion DLC for Minecraft Dungeons, and the first to release outside of the Hero Edition. This expansion brings players to a mountainous area filled with wind-based puzzles, baddies, and a dangerous new golem-flavored boss. There's also a free update, like normal, that includes a ton of bug fixes, balancing changes, and six new enchantments that any players can find and discover.

Finally, there's a new Season Pass available for purchase, which will include the Howling Peaks DLC as well as the next three expansions for Minecraft Dungeons, for a total of four. While we can't say for certain what those expansions will be, it's safe to say they'll be in the Nether, the ocean, and the End.

Howling Peaks and the free update are available now, and you can go ahead and pick up the Season Pass right now if you want to buy all four future expansions at a discount. Howling Peaks is available on its own at the same price as previous expansions. Minecraft Dungeons is one of the Best Games for Xbox Cloud Gaming (Project xCloud), so pick up one of the Best Controllers for Xbox Cloud Gaming to get ahead of the game.

The full changelog for today's update includes:

Howling Peaks

A strange power takes hold atop the perilous peaks, and a brave hero must rise to the summit to defeat it
The trek to the top has bold highs and lows, from dazzling new armor, weapons, and artifacts to vicious new foes across three new missions
At the center of the storm is the Tempest Golem, which must be stopped to hush the howling winds
New achievements await you to unlock on your adventure
Free for All Players: Six brand new enchantments to discover

Balance changes

Totem of Regeneration

Totem of Regeneration healing doubled, from 20 to 40 per second

Soul Lantern

Increased damage by 50%
Increased attack speed by 40%
Increased soul cost by 20%

Sweet Brew

Increased duration from 20 to 120 seconds

Prospector

Prospector now triggers no matter the damage source (this includes kills from pets, artifacts, bows, etc.)

Looting

Looting now triggers no matter the damage source (this includes kills from pets, artifacts, bows, etc.)

Vindicator

Adjusted new "taunt circle + lock" behavior for Vindicators
Reduced charge speed somewhat
Reduced melee tickets to 2 (was 3)
Added behavior which makes them go aggressive when hurt when standing in taunt circle
They now get locked on you if you run away > 15 blocks

Illusioner

Increased explosive arrow damage 200 -> 275
Increased illusion arrow damage 20 -> 30
Reduced health 3200 -> 1800
Increased ranged max attacks to issue in a row to 2
- This makes the Illusioner take 2 shots from the same position in a row, allowing you to dodge the first shot, and exploit a small window of opportunity
Increased cast blind cooldown to 30s
Increased blind effect to 10s
Increased illusion lifetime 4s -> 7s
Reduced ranged attack cooldown 5s -> 2.2s
Reduced min-distance to flee 350 -> 150
Miss effect causes a 25% chance to hit, instead of 50%

Emeralds

Changed how difficulty scales emeralds gained, at Default I there is no difference, but:
- At the end of Apocalypse VII, you get 33% less emeralds from salvage compared to before
- At the end of Apocalypse VII, you get 100% more emeralds from emerald loot sources like mobs, urns, pigs, and chests

Brief invulnerability when rolling (Armor property)

Reduced invulnerability when rolling duration from 1.1s to 0.3s
Added invulnerability VFX to the effect
Invulnerability when rolling is now also always stopped when the roll ends, even if that roll was shorter than 0.3s
Brief invulnerability when rolling had an exploitable behavior, causing you to keep being invulnerable even after the roll had ended

Ghost Cloak

Reduced damage reduction from -80% to -50% damage

Fixes

Fixed a crash that could occur when launching Frozen Fjord
Fixed several crashes that could occur when linking to a Microsoft Account
Flaming quiver now deals additional damage on top of ranged weapon damage
Fixed Burning Mob enchantment effects and Hunting Bow marks being too large when applied to Whisperers and Leapers
Fixed issues with quick-equip functionality
The Deflecting enchantment no longer triggers ranged weapons' Dynamo enchantment
Undoing the salvage process of an equipped and activated item no longer causes the item to be lost
Key Golems are no longer auto targeted by ranged weapons
Eliminated the Frozen Zombie's occasional bursts of speed because they're supposed to be frozen
Recalling the Soul Lantern pet no longer interrupts player movement
Fixed Fuse Shot arrows not exploding
Fixed the Accessibility Help Center button not opening the correct page on Xbox
Fixed several text-to-speech issues
Text-to-Speech is now present for merchant interfaces
Fixed the timing of some mission subtitles for Swedish localization
Miniboss music no longer gets stuck playing forever and ever and ever
Fixed missing cage opening sound effect on Bamboo Bluffs
Fixed missing sound effects for stone heads puzzle on Dingy Jungle
Fixed the music in the Creeper Woods rune room
Hosts will no longer hear sounds from other players that are far away
Lowered the sound of Love Spell Bow

The next era of Dungeons

Minecraft Dungeons: Season Pass

Explore new worlds in Minecraft Dungeons.

It's been a busy first year for Minecraft Dungeons, and now the ARPG dungeon-crawling Minecraft spin-off is looking ahead towards its future, with four new expansions planned. The first one, Howling Peaks, is available right now, but players can also grab the new Season Pass to gain immediate access to all four expansions as soon as they launch.