When comparing Dungeon Defenders II vs Sanctum 2, the Slant community recommends Sanctum 2 for most people. In the question“What are the best PC Tower Defense games?” Sanctum 2 is ranked 16th while Dungeon Defenders II is ranked 31st. The most important reason people chose Sanctum 2 is:
The campaign remains balanced regardless of how many people are playing. The difficulty of play scales very effectively to ensure the level of challenge is appropriate.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Visual appeal
Charming characters, vibrant colors, and an art style that is cohesive across all their content.
Pro Free to play
You have access to all levels and difficulties and the 4 starting heros. New heros can either be bought or unlocked by earning defender medals through mission completion and daily quests.
There are hero costumes which can't be earned in game but they are purely visual. The only advantage a paying player can buy is more bag space or extra hero card slots (you get +1 card slot when you unlock a hero with in game currency but can buy more if you want duplicates).
Pro Constantly being improved
There are updates nearly weekly and always new levels and characters being added. The more recent Incursions have also been more of a challenge compared to some of the original content.
Pro Well balanced campaign that allows for 1 to 4 players while keeping the difficulty scaled in order to keep the gameplay challenging
The campaign remains balanced regardless of how many people are playing. The difficulty of play scales very effectively to ensure the level of challenge is appropriate.
Pro Teamwork is not optional, each player needs to cooperate with their team in order to have any success
Since tower slots are limited, it's important to coordinate the layout of your defenses as a team in order to fend off the enemies.
Pro High amount of replayability thanks to a large selection of in-game buffs
You can buff the monsters in each fight with one of five different buffs, giving you five different playing experiences for each level.
Pro Automatic server hosting and port forwarding
Players do not need to set up dedicated servers or port forward. It is done automatically.
Pro Integrates well with Steam matchmaking, making it easy to find online matches
Sanctum 2 allows for players to use Steam’s built-in matchmaking, which makes it easy to invite your friends or to find others to play with.
Pro Reliable netcode allows you to enjoy the game without worry of laggy or dropped connections
The netcode used is stable and there have been very few issues reported, which is great as there is no ned to worry about losing you connection, dropping the match.
Cons
Con Everything that was wrong with Dungeon Defenders 1, is also wrong in this version
Bad gear balancing, pay 2 win gear, 1 builder 3 dps, many hackers/cheaters.
Con Still in development (as of 8/25/16)
Each patch often brings as many bugs or balance problems as it does bits of additional content. They are usually worked out but it might turn away players looking for a finished product.
Con No challenge until the highest difficulty
There is a campaign mode but it's far too easy even for brand new players. And after you're done with the campaign, your fastest method of leveling to cap is running the same boss repeatedly on a low difficulty. Why have 8 difficulty levels if you encourage your players to skip half of them through poor balance?
Con Difficulty can spike from chapter to chapter
Con Boring
Con Tower defense games do not invite creative building plans
Con Boss models are reused too much
There is not a ton of variety in the boss battles; boss models are reused often. This can be repetitive for players.