Olden Era Dungeon Guide — Stances, Two Ways to Attack, Heroes, Build Order and Laws

Dungeon has been the most-picked faction on the Single Hero ladder and the second most-picked in Classic since the season reset, and it is the faction most tier lists have put on top since launch. The game's own account of it:

"Formerly underground, currently backstage rulers of Jadame, the faction whose capital is Alvar focuses on subterfuge and versatility. Each of their units has two types of attack."

Two types of attack is the identity: the shooters here are also knife-fighters, the melee has a trick, and the hero changes Stance every round. Dungeon is a faction of decisions, and it rewards the player who makes the right one more often than the opponent. It is also the cheapest town in the game to build in the first week, though the 0.82.06 update narrowed that lead.

This guide covers the current build (game build 26428102, 4 November 2026: the 0.82.06 update of 29 October, which gave the Dancers, Minotaurs and Medusa Queen new active abilities, split the two Infiltrator upgrades apart, re-priced most of the roster and rewrote five of the Elite laws, and the two hotfixes after it, which halved the Medusa Queen's new Hail of Arrows and put the Resource Riches laws back to their old prices). Numbers and ability text are the game's own, from the Dungeon faction page; the sources are listed at the end. Where Dungeon stands this week is on the tier list and the faction stats.

The faction skill: Triumvirate's Strength

Triumvirate's Strength:

"Once per round, the hero can activate one of the three Stances in battle. The active Stance grants the hero +2 to the Stance's corresponding attribute."

Advanced gives +4, Expert +6. The three Stances correspond to Attack, Defense and Spell Power; switching is free and happens once a round, so the hero is +6 Attack when the Dancers volley, +6 Defense when the enemy's turn comes, and +6 Spell Power on the round the Warlock casts. That is the "versatility" of the description made into a button.

The perks build on the switch itself:

• Alvarian Expertise (Advanced): "When selecting a Stance, the corresponding attribute of enemy hero partially decreases while the Stance is active." Your Attack Stance is also their Defense debuff.
• Underground Mana Pools (Advanced): "+3 temporary mana" per Stance selected — a Warlock who changes Stance every round casts every round.
• Flow (Expert): "Generates 1 Focus Charge(s) each time the hero selects a Stance." Dungeon's creature actives run on Focus — Blade Dance costs 3, Hail of Arrows, Petrification, Minotaur's Onslaught, Balthazar's Tramp, Unyielding Will and Shadowstrike 2 — and since 0.82.06 there are far more of them: Unfrozen's patch notes say Dungeon had "few ways to spend Focus Charges", and the new actives on the Dancers, Minotaurs and Medusa Queen are the answer. Flow is the faction's reliable supply.
• Opportunists (Expert): +1 Initiative to friendly creatures. On Aureate Dancers at Initiative 6 that is the difference between shooting before and after the enemy's shooters.

The Fighting Style the faction's laws refer to — "your Onyx Dancers deal 1.5 times more Damage when using their Fighting Style" — is the second attack type the description promises. In the current data it shows up as the units below: Dancers that shoot and cut, Medusae that shoot and petrify, Troglodytes that counter and poison.

The roster, tier by tier

The 0.82.06 update re-priced five of the seven lines: Troglodytes, Infiltrators and Hydras got cheaper, Dancers and Medusae dearer, and the Dancers lost a point of growth.

Tier 1: Troglodyte

45 gold and growth 27, so a Dungeon town has 27 of them a week before laws; the Dungeon Masters I law adds 4 more. 9 HP (the patch gave the whole line a ninth point), 1–3 damage, and that is all — until the upgrade. The Infernal Troglodyte (Defense 5, Initiative 6) has Toxic Spear: "attacks leave gaping wounds, causing the target to take +25% Damage until the end of the next round" — the stack that goes first so the Dancers hit harder. The Toxic Troglodyte (Attack 4, 1–4 damage) has Alert I (two counterattacks a round) and Toxic Blood ("when this creature is Damaged, all adjacent enemies take +25% Damage"): it is a screen that punishes whoever touches it. The melee path is often written off, but in this build both upgrades are support for the shooters, and the Toxic line is the better screen.

Tier 2: Infiltrator

Teleporting melee (Blink: "Teleports directly to destination hex, ignoring obstacles and traps.") with Weak Spot — "Lucky Strikes deal +100% Damage, and the maximum possible Luck is increased to 5" — at 110 gold, down from 120. The 0.82.06 update pulled the two upgrades apart. The Guile Infiltrator is the duellist: Initiative 8, Swift Strike (no counterattack against it), Sharper Blade — "Each attack increases this creature’s luck by 1", which with Weak Spot climbs to 5 — and Liquidation: "If after this attack the target stack size is lower than or equal to 10% of its original number, it is destroyed immediately." The Bleak Infiltrator is the assassin: it took over Shadowstrike, now at half strength — "Deals 50% basic attack Damage ([ 1.5–3 × amount of units ]) to any enemy, ignoring their Defense" — and Staggering Hits (the target cannot counterattack), and gained Ambush: "At the beginning of each round, this creature hides in the shadows and cannot be targeted until its turn starts", on top of Veil of Shadows for a round nobody can target it at all. 13 HP makes them fragile either way: keep the stack small and use it as an assassin, not a line unit.

Tier 3: Onyx Dancer

The faction's heart, and the line the 0.82.06 update re-priced hardest: a 225-gold shooter (165 before) at growth 7 (8 before) with A Thousand Cuts — "each attack reduces the target’s Defense by 1 until the end of battle. This effect is stackable." — and a new active, Blade Dance: "This creature strikes twice until the end of the round" for 3 Focus, on a 3-round cooldown. A Dancer stack that shoots the same target every round, twice on the Blade Dance round, strips its Defense a point at a time. The Aureate Dancer has Attack 9, Initiative 6 (from 4) and Cuts at −2 Defense per attack; it is still the shooting upgrade nearly every Dungeon player takes, but its old reason is gone — the patch moved it from Initiative 7 to 6 and raised the Jasper to the same 6, so the two now shoot in the same window and the Aureate is chosen for the double Cuts, not for going first. The Jasper Dancer has Defense 9, Speed 5, Draconic Blade ("melee attacks deal double Damage") and Swift Strike (no counterattack against it), and its ranged attack is not swapped for a weaker one when an enemy stands next to it: a Dancer stack that is cornered becomes a blender. Motley starts with Dancers and makes them better; the Amphitheater that recruits them costs 1,750 gold, 5 Ore and 2 each of Gems, Crystals and Mercury — with Grove's Menhir Circle, the cheapest tier‑3 dwelling in the game.

Tier 4: Minotaur

40 HP, 11–14 damage, Attack and Defense 12, and two passives that make it the frontline: Eager for Battle ("always has positive Morale, and its maximum increases to 5; chance to take an additional turn increases by +5% for each total point of Morale") and Blood for Blood ("whenever this creature takes Damage, its Morale increases by 1"). The more it is hit, the more extra turns it takes. New in 0.82.06, the whole line has Minotaur’s Onslaught — "After attacking, pushes the target away if possible" (2 Focus) — a shove that takes a melee stack off your Dancers. The Minotaur Lord has Parry (its counterattack strikes first) and Unyielding Will, which "fully ignores attackers’ Attack values until the end of the round" — a round of near-invulnerability for the stack holding the line. The patch cut its Defense from 15 to 12, so the Lord now holds with its abilities, not its armour. The Minotaur Vanguard has Attack and Defense 14, Morale 2, Adrenaline Surge (+2 Speed, +8 Attack and Defense when Morale triggers) and a second new active, Balthazar’s Tramp: "All adjacent enemies’ Speed reduces by 1. Duration: 2 round(s)." Lords for PvP, where the Unyielding Will round is worth more than two points of Attack and Defense; Vanguards to clear.

Tier 5: Medusa

A Sharpshooter (full damage at any range) with Slither Away to reposition, now Attack 18 and 14–17 damage (15 and 11–15 before the patch) for 540 gold. The Medusa Sculptor adds Duelist (no melee penalty), Petrification — "performs a Melee attack and petrifies the target until the end of the round. Petrified targets take double Damage from basic attacks, are immune to Magic Damage, and skip their turn." — and, moved over from the Queen, Marble Arrows: "Ranged Attacks reduce the target’s Initiative by 2 until the end of the next round." Petrify the enemy's best stack, then let the Dancers shoot it for double. The Medusa Queen (Attack 23, Initiative 7) counterattacks ranged attacks with Countershot and has the faction's new area shot, Hail of Arrows: "Select 3 target(s) for this attack. The attack deals 50% of basic attack Damage ([ 7–8.5 × amount of units ]) to the targets, and half that Damage to all the enemies adjacent to the targets", for 2 Focus. The 0.82.07 hotfix halved its damage (it was 100% of a basic attack at launch) and cut its cost from 3 to 2 and its cooldown from 3 rounds to 2, so it is now a cheap spread shot rather than a second full attack. Sculptor is the standard; Queen against shooter factions and armies that bunch up.

Tier 6: Hydra

130 HP, Defense 27, 25–30 damage, Speed 4, Swift Strike, Sweeping Strike (hits two adjacent enemies too) and Growing Teeth (+1 Attack each time it is damaged), at 1,100 gold — 0.82.06 gave the line 5 Defense and 2 maximum damage and took 100 gold off the price. The Chthonic Hydra (1,600 gold) has 160 HP, Defense 33 and Regeneration — "restores to full HP at the start of its turn" — plus Poisonous Blood (adjacent enemies deal −25%) and All Heads on Deck (counterattacks with the full Fighting Style). This one unit is why Typhona rates so highly: a stack that heals to full every turn tanks every neutral fight on the map. The Infernal Hydra (Attack 29, 30–35 damage, Initiative 8, Speed 6) is the offensive version with Weakening Venom and Growing Teeth at +2.

Tier 7: Cave Dragon

300 HP, Attack 32, Defense 28, 50–60 damage, Initiative 11, Speed 8, Dragonbreath Strike (hits the hex behind the target too), Spell Immunity IV and Inner Flame. The Black Dragon (5,000 gold + 2 Gems) has 375 HP, 65–75 damage, Initiative 14, Spell Immunity V — immune to every spell in the game — and Fires of Dominion, +1 Morale and Luck for your army and −1 for theirs. The Ashen Dragon has 325 HP, Attack 36, Speed 11 and Dominating Presence ("all adjacent enemies always deal minimum Damage"). All three gained 25 HP in the patch, and the Cave and Black Dragons 3 Attack. The Cave Palace that builds them costs 17,500 gold, 5 Wood, 5 Ore and 20 Gems, and that is the whole Dungeon mid-game in one line.

Heroes worth drafting

The might class is the Overlord (Attack 2, Defense 2, Spell Power 1, Knowledge 2), the magic class the Warlock (Attack 0, Defense 2, Spell Power 2, Knowledge 3). All 18 are on the faction page. Two things changed for all of them in 0.82.06: creature specialists now add +1 Attack and Defense to their creature every 5 levels, not every 3, and — per the patch notes, since the files the site renders do not carry class bonuses — the elite classes Balthazar's Bodyguard, Silvertongue's Envoy and Amelchia's Heir give 40% of the hero's Attack, Defense or Spell Power rather than 100%.

Danse Macabre: Onyx Dancer growth +1 in your cities; Dancers under her gain 1 Speed, 1 Initiative and 20% HP, and +1 Attack and Defense every five levels (every three before 0.82.06), while enemy Dancers lose the same. She starts with three stacks of 4–6 Onyx Dancers and the spell Twilight ("target enemy creature is prevented from using Ranged attacks"), which silences the enemy's shooters on turn one. The trade-off is Attack 0: raise it with the Attack Stance and the first level-ups. The most recommended Dungeon hero since launch, and with Dancers at 225 gold her free growth is worth more than it was.

Starts with two Hydras and Triumvirate's Strength already at Advanced; Alvarian Hydra adds Hydra growth and stats. She is a top-tier pick for her early tempo, Hydras that open richer zones, and real power in the final battle. Two Chthonic Hydras that regenerate to full every turn clear most of a Jebus Cross zone alone.

The build's data leaves her specialisation text blank, but she rates beside Typhona at the top: Heroic Strike is the main damage source against many tier‑6 and tier‑7 units, she clears most map objects around levels 5–7 with seven one-creature stacks, and she is one of the most banned Dungeon heroes in the draft. If she is not banned, she is the pick.

Starts with two stacks of 3–5 Minotaurs beside 22–30 Troglodytes; Balthazar's Lair grows and buffs Minotaurs. The frontline hero.

Shadowmastery: Nightshade spells +1 level, another +1 every ten levels, and — the clause that matters in PvP — "Enemy hero cannot cast Nightshade spells." Starts with Sleep. Against a Necromancer or another Warlock he removes their school.

Masterful Early Start — "this version of the spell affects all friendly creatures" — is +3 Initiative to the whole army on round one. Dungeon's problem is that Dancers and Medusae are slow; he is the answer. His second skill is Battlecraft, which 0.82.06 halved to +10/15/20% Attack or Defense when a stack waits or skips.

Gem Seeker: +1 Gem a day, double Gems on the map. Dungeon's dwellings need Gems at tier 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7; on a poor map she is the Dragon timeline.

Spellweaver: +15% spell damage, +5% more every three levels, and the enemy hero's spell damage reduced by the same. The damage-caster Warlock.

The first week

Dungeon's resource is Gems, and the town asks for a little of everything: Wood, Ore, Gems, Crystals and Mercury all appear in the week below, at the lowest gold cost of any faction — if no longer by much, since 0.82.06 raised the Warren, Safe House, Amphitheater and Labyrinth and lowered only the Chthonic Home. It opens with the upgrade nearly every Dungeon player makes first:

Why the Dancers come first. Onyx Dancers are the army, and the Aureate upgrade raises their Initiative from 4 to 6 and their Cuts to −2 Defense a hit: the Dancers volley before anything reaches them, which is what lets Dungeon clear week 1 without losing the stack. The two Amphitheater builds cost 1,250 gold more than they did before the patch, so day 2 is where Resource Riches I (2,500 gold, 5 Wood and 5 Ore for 1 Seal) earns its place. Every dwelling upgrade costs Alchemical Dust as well as gold, and the map gives little of it — 8 to 12 a pile, 20 to 40 from an Alchemical Storage once a week — so the upgrades go in this order:

• Onyx Dancers to Aureate Dancers (Amphitheater II, 30 Dust), on day 2, or the day the 30th Dust arrives. Dungeon is the one faction with a law that pays Dust: Alchemists Code I gives 75 at once, enough for this upgrade and the Minotaurs'.
• Troglodytes (Warren II: 1,000 gold, 5 Ore, 10 Dust), with the next 10 Dust: Toxic Troglodytes as the screen in front of the Dancers.
• Minotaurs and Medusae (Labyrinth II and Stilled Voices II), in week 2.

Entering week 2 with the Palace at III and Aureate Dancers, Minotaurs and Medusae recruiting is the standard. The Chthonic Home (2,500 gold, 10 Wood, 5 Ore, 10 Gems — 1,000 gold cheaper since 0.82.06) is the first build of week 2, for Hydras; from there the Cave Palace (17,500 gold, 5 Wood, 5 Ore, 20 Gems) is the only big purchase left, and Gems are what delay it. Claim the Ore mine first (it gates the Labyrinth and the Hydras' home), the Gem mine second.

On the map: Dancers kill, Troglodytes screen. Two rules for Single Hero: plan movement around resource nodes as well as neutrals — a missed Crystal or Gem mine in week 1 costs a dwelling in week 2 — and avoid far-off fights in the first two weeks, since there is no recovery if core stacks take heavy losses. Mixing other factions' creatures into the army costs Morale; Dungeon has no law to fix that, so bank rewards go to a second hero in Classic and are sold or left in Single Hero.

Laws, in priority order

Full text on the laws page. Dungeon's law set is unusual: it has a growth law per tier (Dungeon Masters I–VII) and an Elite law per line that multiplies that line's Fighting Style damage by 1.5. The 0.82.06 update rewrote the stat half of five of those Elite laws and made the three Resource Riches laws a Seal dearer, which the 0.82.08 hotfix undid; the costs below are the current ones.

From the start (0 points).

• Elite Troglodytes (3/2) if Troglodytes are your screen.
• Dungeon Masters I (2): "Tier‑1 creature growth in your cities increases by 4".
• Leaders of the Nation (3/3): "Your heroes generate +10% Law points", then +20% — early, because it pays for every later law.
• Resource Riches I (1): 2,500 gold, 5 Wood and 5 Ore, once — on day 1 it is the Amphitheater and most of its upgrade.
• Dragon Scales (2/2/2): −5%, −10%, −15% Magic Damage taken, against caster factions.
• Celestial Maps (6): 500 Astrology Points a day, for the Classic player who wants Town Portal.

At 5 points.

• Elite Dancers (3/2): "Your Onyx Dancers deal 1.5 times more Damage when using their Fighting Style. They gain 1 Luck and Morale", then 2 — rewritten in 0.82.06 (it used to be Attack and Defense), but Luck is Lucky Strikes and Morale is extra volleys, and it is still the law every Dungeon game takes.
• Dungeon Masters III (2): tier‑3 growth +2, which is two more Dancers a week — and at growth 7 they are scarcer than they were.
• Tax Collectors (2/2): 250 then 500 gold.
• Mining: Gems (2/2) when the map has none.
• Arcane Knowledge (2): +15 maximum mana for Warlocks.
• Alchemists Code I (4): 75 Alchemical Dust at once, enough for the Dancer and Minotaur dwelling upgrades.
• Elite Infiltrators (3/2): +1 then +2 maximum damage (it was HP before the patch), only if you field them.

At 15 points.

• Elite Medusae (3/2) — "They gain 1 Initiative and 4 Attack", then 2 and 8; the Defense half of the old law is gone — and Elite Minotaurs (3/2) — "They gain 2 Attack and Defense, and 1 Speed and Initiative", then 4, where it used to add damage — for the stacks you field.
• Tactical Advantage (6): "All enemy creatures lose 1 Initiative" — with Aureate Dancers at 6 this is a two-point swing in the only race that matters.
• Jadame Maps (5/5): +10 then +20 Movement points, the Classic law.
• Or No Ore? (3/3) if the Ore mine never came.
• Resource Riches II (2): 5,000 gold, 10 Wood and 10 Ore, once.

At 30 and 50 points.

• Triumvirate's Agents (4/4): heroes +1 then +2 Attack, Defense and Spell Power — on a hero whose Stance already swings by 6, more of everything.
• Elite Hydras (3/2): "They gain 1 Speed and 4 Defense", then 2 and 8 — Defense in place of the old +25 HP.
• Merchants Guild (6): "Eliminates all price markups in the Marketplace", the law that turns Wood into Gems at par.
• At 50, Magical Education (4/4): spells +1 then +2 levels.
• Elite Cave Dragons (3/2): +4 then +8 Attack and Defense and +1 then +2 Speed and Initiative.
• Saturation (3): +1 Focus Charge limit, worth more now that the faction has Focus actives to spend it on: Blade Dance costs 3, Hail of Arrows 2.
• Resource Riches III (3): 7,500 gold, 15 Wood and 15 Ore, once.

Skills and spells

Overlords: Offense (Battle Frenzy is +1 Attack per point of Morale since 0.82.06, down from +2 — on Minotaurs, whose Morale only climbs, it is still free Attack), Defense (As Luck Would Have It likewise +1 Defense per point of Luck), Tactics (Dancers in the back row, Minotaurs in front, before anyone moves), Luck (Infiltrators' Weak Spot and the Guile's Sharper Blade want it), Logistics in Classic. The new First Aid — "After winning a battle, surviving friendly stacks revive 20% of the units lost during that battle", 30% and 40% at the higher ranks — is worth a slot on any Dungeon hero clearing week 1 with 20‑HP Dancers at 225 gold apiece. Warlocks: Nightshade Magic — Twilight, Sleep, Berserk and Vulnerability are the faction's spells, and Lodos locks the enemy out of them; Sorcery for Zakron (+20/25/30% Magic Damage, trimmed from +20/30/40%); Battle Magic, which 0.82.06 turned into a trade — friendly creatures gain 20/30/40% of the hero's Spell Power and Knowledge as Attack and Defense "but decrease by 20% of the hero's Attack and Defense" (30% and 40% at the higher ranks). A Warlock has Attack 0 to lose, so the penalty costs almost nothing and Knowledge 3 still becomes creature Defense; on an Overlord it is now a loss. The Magic Observatory in town is where a Warlock finds the Nightshade spells the Mage Guild did not roll — visit it early. Alchemical Dust is finite: after the Dancer upgrade, spend it on the spells you cast every fight, Twilight and Sleep first.

Spells to buy: Twilight at level I if you do not have Motley; Early Start (Arcane) for the Dancers; Haste on the Minotaurs; Sleep for the enemy's tier‑7.

Fighting with Dungeon

Against neutrals. Troglodytes or Minotaurs in front, Dancers and Medusae behind, Hydras wherever the neutrals will walk into a Sweeping Strike. Petrify the stack with the highest damage before it acts; A Thousand Cuts the stack with the highest Defense, and Blade Dance on the round it is in range, for two Cuts and two volleys at once. Minotaur's Onslaught shoves whatever reaches the Dancers back out of reach. Attack Stance when you shoot, Defense Stance when they move.

Against players. Dungeon wins the fights it controls. Turn one: Twilight on the enemy's shooters, Early Start on the Dancers, Attack Stance, volley. The Dancers choose one target and stay on it until its Defense is gone; the Sculptor petrifies the stack that would otherwise hit the Dancers; the Minotaur Lord's Unyielding Will absorbs the enemy's big swing; the Queen's Hail of Arrows is for the round the enemy bunches up around your frontline. Black Dragons ignore every spell the enemy brought and fight whatever they like. Against Temple, Twilight the Marksmen and Sleep the Angel; against Hive, Petrify the Hornets or Sleep them before they fly; against Necropolis, kill the Liches first — their revives undo the Cuts.

Matchups. The Single Hero faction stats and the Classic faction stats have Dungeon's record against every faction, by template and by rating bracket; the bracket switch shows whether Dungeon's win rate holds up in the top 10%.

Common mistakes

1. Buying Infiltrators instead of Dancers and Minotaurs. They are an assassin stack of ten, not a line.
2. Shooting a different target every round. A Thousand Cuts only works on one stack at a time.
3. Taking the Jasper Dancer by default. Both upgrades have Initiative 6 since 0.82.06, so the choice is no longer about who shoots first: the Aureate's −2 Cuts is the shooter's upgrade, and the Jasper is for a Dancer stack you expect to be reached.
4. Ignoring the Gem count until the Cave Palace is due. 20 Gems for the dwelling and 1 per Dragon; the mine, Creta or the Merchants Guild has to supply them.
5. Forgetting to change Stance. The +6 is free every round; a hero who stays in one Stance is a hero with a third of their skill.
6. Sitting on Focus Charges. Blade Dance, Minotaur's Onslaught and Hail of Arrows are what the Flow perk is for now; a Dungeon army that ends a fight with Focus unspent left damage on the table.
7. Mixing neutral creatures into the army. The Morale penalty costs Minotaur extra turns, which is the faction's damage.

Where this comes from

Numbers and ability text are from the game files for build 26428102 (4 November 2026, the 0.82.08 hotfix), as published in the game database and on the Dungeon page; Unfrozen's 0.82.06 patch notes supply the reasoning behind the creature changes and the elite-class figures the files do not carry. The strategy draws on TheGamer's Dungeon strategy guide (May 2026), KeenGamer's week‑1 build-order, best-heroes and faction tier-list guides (May 2026), and the ranked games this site tracks. The faction's standing is on the tier list, recomputed every day.

Related: Which faction should you play? · How the ranked ladder works · Glossary