Popular Warcraft 3 mod Legion TD returns after 12 years with a standalone sequel

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The first time I laid eyes on Legion TD 2 was in 2016, when the developers launched a Kickstarter campaign to support its development. But its history goes back a lot further than that—all the way to Legion TD, a Warcraft 3 mod released in 2009. Development of the standalone successor began in 2014, Early Access followed the successful Kickstarter campaign, and on October 1 it finally went into full release on Steam.

Legion TD 2 is a tower defense game with MOBA elements that supports singleplayer and co-op campaigns as well as 2v2 and 4v4 matchmaking. The basics are simple—build an army, defend your king, eliminate the enemy—but the variety of unique factions and fighters enables a tremendous range of offensive and defensive possibilities.

"Some fighters secure you strategic advantages in the early game," the Steam page says. "Others facilitate powerful late game synergies."

"As a 4-person indie team, we're incredibly thankful to you all," four-person developer AutoAttack Games said in the launch announcement. "We've poured our hearts into Legion TD 2 over the last 7 years 10 months of development. For those who have been around since early access, you have been instrumental in making Legion TD 2 what it is today. It's a dream come true going from a Warcraft 3 mod to Kickstarter to early access to full launch. We hope you love the game as much as we do."

In an Reddit AMA, project lead Brent "Lisk" Batas said the developers plan to continue working on the game post-launch, with new content and gameplay updates and improvements. He also emphasized how far Legion TD 2 has come from its Warcraft 3 mod days, describing it as "much more fun to learn."

"There's a tutorial, a coop campaign, 5 tiers of AIs, weekly challenge mode, sandbox mode, and much, much better UI for things like recommended value," Lisk wrote. "There's also an in-game Game Coach (think Clippy from Microsoft Office) that gives you tips based on how you play. If it helps further, the rank 1 player in season 7 (earlier this year) started playing just that season."

So far, the launch appears to be going quite well: The developers said 23,000 new players had picked up Legion TD 2 over the weekend, and it currently holds a "mostly positive" user ranking on Steam, which includes the Early Access period. It's on sale for 20% off—$16/£12/€13.50—until October 8, and you can learn more about the game at legiontd2.com.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.