The Last Spell - Dwarves of Runenberg Review

Look, I’ll be honest; I didn’t know what The Last Spell was before I was given the newest DLC for review. I simply saw Dwarves in a cool-looking setting and put my name down faster than Gimli contests the point value of a slain pachyderm! After booting up the game and getting into it, I realised I was in for a wild ride of last-ditch defence, epic manoeuvres, and accidental explosions! So join me in a round of ale and steel as we have a gander at The Last Spell - Dwarves of Runenberg.

As fans of the game already know, The Last Spell is a combination of town-building, tactical turn-based combat, and tower defence, if the towers could walk and talk. The player works to protect one of many havens, small towns with some useful buildings and resources, and its resident mage who is trying to break the local seal of magic, resulting in the casting of the final incantation. The details and our views on the base game can be seen in our review, so I'll not go into it here. Dwarves of Runenberg, at surface level, adds a haven to protect (the titular Runenberg) along with a new race and weapons to play around with.

New content has been marked for your convenience, handy!

Before I dive into the other features, let’s discuss this new haven. Situated deep underground, Runenberg is seemingly the last holdout of the dwarven people as they battle against the never-ending hordes of creatures of the Mist. What makes this particular haven stand out from the others is a twofold helping of explosions and, well, holes. As the Dwarves make their homes in the caverns deep underground, the map layout itself is also filled with holes that divide the different “lanes” of evil ingress. Keeping to the cavernous theme, there are also unbreakable stones and mining equipment in the way, making for some fun tactical uses, such as funnelling the hordes into a nice, thunderboltable line.

The other, more volatile addition to this particular map is Runestones. These mystical bits of geology are filled with elemental energy just waiting to be unleashed, which can be done by dealing enough damage. When triggered, these pain pebbles deal a massive helping of hurt within a certain range but leave your lovely heroes untouched! Better yet, they recharge each night, which is good, as the amount of enemies can be overwhelming, to say the least.

Runenberg has seen better days...

The Dwarves of Runenberg’s map is available to start once you have cleared the first haven of Gildenberg, but we really don’t recommend it, as this can be quite challenging. Before anything else, the map allows a whopping eight omens to be active (not counting unbound mode), which speaks for itself for the coming difficulty, but I’ll try to tack on a bit more. The state of the haven, as you take charge, is not great; you do have an Inn, which is good for recruiting new heroes, but it is also severely damaged and very near to the edge of the protected area, meaning an unlucky wave can decimate it quickly. You have some very tough stone walls as well, though they are scattered about, making patching the holes very important! Finally, you are surrounded on all four sides by absolutely massive waves of enemies, featuring the normal faces we’re used to, along with mid-wave elites, monster-buffing beasties, and the lovely Harplings we all miss from the first map. Making smart choices on what to buy, what to upgrade, and which weapons to use is absolutely critical in this endurance map.

In addition to the new map, the newest DLC also adds the aforementioned race of the Dwarves, along with a new racial perk tree, three weapons, and some other goodies. I wholeheartedly approve of adding a bit of racial distinction, as it always adds a bit of flavour to both the narrative and the rag-tag bunches of heroes you end up commanding. The titular Dwarves, for example, are built like absolute tanks, with high HP and perks built around drinking beer, taking damage, and being tossed around the battlefield! No, seriously, the Dwarves cannot jump over obstacles or cover as other races can, and instead, they rely on their cohorts to get them where they need to go. Named “Toss me!” (don’t tell the Elf), this skill allows a Dwarf to move a fair bit of distance for the cost of a bit of health, as long as another party member is close by. While this can be annoying when friends are far away, this little bit of humour and variation did add a bit of extra spice to the tactical thinking in play; do I send Durnid the Dwarf to solo that elite, or do I keep him near Tossey the Tosser just in case Fred the Feeble needs a hand beyond the wall…

Mobility is a major factor when the foe's are coming from all directions

The new weapons added in the DLC are similarly fun and varied, often balancing power or utility with a noticeable downside. The Cannon was a fantastic little toy to get rid of large groups, as each shot hit up to five enemies, but it also had fun movement abilities, allowing the wielder to rocket jump into or out of the fray while also causing damage to enemies (and themselves)! On the other hand, each shot took up a painful two action points (AP), meaning its use was quite limited. The Gauntlet, which I assumed would be an awesome melee weapon for massive punching, turned out to be this but also an earth-infused weapon that could drop stalactites on foes, stun enemies, and create a big AoE to deal with groups. Like the Cannon, the Gauntlet seemed to have a sub-system where it would gather energy on use that could then be released as extra damage. The attack arc of the weapon was interesting, hitting one square while dealing additional damage to three squares in a line behind it, making it tricky to use it to its full potential but still fun.

The final new weapon, the War Shield, is possibly my favourite of them all, as it is the most Dwarven to my mind. The basic attack attacks everything in an inverse horseshoe to you and it even ups your defence! More often than not I combined a Cannon’s Rocket Jump skill to get into the thick of the fighting, to then spend the final APs on doing some damage and boosting my defence to survive the oncoming tide of attacks!

The last items added to the game by the DLC were Trinkets and Beers. The Trinkets offer a decent variety of new skills and strategies to use, such as gaining varying boosts per night, creating a shockwave of force per hit to damage adjacent enemies, and causing some minor damage even on a miss. While these were always fun to use, I ran into them rather seldom during my runs, so I cannot say how much new life they breathe for a more veteran player. The Beers, on the other hand, are a fun addition, in theme, if nothing else. I mean, one of the first things you associate with the mountain folk is flagons of ale, right? These drinks give the imbiber a set of bonuses and debuffs, making them a risk to drink. For example, drinking a Pilsner may increase your chances of scoring a critical hit better but will reduce the actual damage done.

Having not played The Last Spell before, Dwarves of Runenberg managed to sell me on it, which is a job well done for any DLC! I loved the humorous references the Dwarves came with, as well as their clear role as damage-spongey melee warriors with fun abilities and a fixation on not wearing clothes. While I enjoyed the endurance match-esque nights in the titular village, they did feel intense as I fought tooth and nail to protect my home. If you’re a fan of the game, I do recommend getting the DLC as it adds a lot to try and is not overly expensive at just under £7. If you get through the map in your first go, it’s about 4-5 hours of “content”. For newcomers, I also think this is not a bad edition to have, especially if you can get the whole bundle at a discount, though I do think jumping into Runenberg can be a challenge if you haven’t unlocked some of the better structures and extra hero slots.