Minecraft Dungeons ‘Howling Peaks’ DLC: Features, release date, and everything you need to know

Another expansion and a companion free update.

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Minecraft Dungeonsis an extension of the growingMinecraftuniverse, and it continues to expand with new updates and content. The latest DLC expansion to come to Minecraft Dungeons is Howling Peaks, which follows the precedent-settingJungle Awakens DLCand the fantasticCreeping Winter DLC. Howling Peaks not only adds new levels and a host of content just like previous DLCs, but it also comes with, like with every DLC before it, a complimentary free update that further balances the game and adds some new goodies for players who don’t purchase the DLC to find.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Howling Peaks DLC for Minecraft Dungeons:

Minecraft explores the dungeons.

Minecraft Dungeons is the next saga in Minecraft’s story, and Mojang Studios have knocked another one out of the park. Awesome co-op combat paired with powerful loot, all at a crazy affordable price? There’s not much more you could ask for in an epic dungeon crawling ARPG.

What is the Howling Peaks DLC for Minecraft Dungeons?

Howling Peaks is the third DLC expansion for Minecraft Dungeons and was announced atMinecraft Live 2020, alongside a ton of other news. In fact, the Howling Peaks DLC was used to demo cross-play across platforms in Minecraft Dungeons - a feature players have been waiting on for a long time. Want to play with your friends on other platforms? Check out ourguide on how to enable cross-platform multiplayer in Minecraft Dungeons.

Howling Peaks arrives after the completely free cross-play update, alongside its own complimentary free update that promises to give players fresh content to try out and sets the stage for even more expansions coming in 2021 and beyond (at least three more have been confirmed!).

Expect Howling Peaks to be similar to the previous two DLCs, Jungle Awakens and Creeping Winter, in that there will be a new island on the Minecraft Dungeons map, with three levels to play and explore. A new boss, mobs, gear, and secrets will all be present with Howling Peaks, alongside sweeping quality-of-life-improvements, bug fixes and balancing, and some goodies that all players will be able to enjoy with the free update launching alongside Howling Peaks.

What do I need to know about the Howling Peaks DLC for Minecraft Dungeons?

We’re not going to reveal absolutely everything about Minecraft Dungeons' Howling Peaks DLC, but we’ve broken down all the most important aspects of Howling Peaks, so you can quickly and easily check to see if Howling Peaks is the next Minecraft Dungeons expansion for you. If you’ve played Jungle Awakens or Creeping Winter, Howling Peaks is similar to both of those expansions in overall size. So what does this mean? New levels, gear and items, mobs and bosses, and missions to complete (which were originally introduced in Creeping Winter).

Another island with new levels

Source: Mojang Studios

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Like with previous DLCs, Howling Peaks includes two primary levels to explore, with a third secret level that is up to players to discover for themselves. Let’s give a quick breakdown of each level in Minecraft Dungeons' Howling Peaks DLC:

Powerful new gear and items

As with every expansion released for Minecraft Dungeons, a plethora of new equipment will go along with Howling Peaks, fromartifacts,weapons,armor, and more; there should be lots for players to experiment with.

Since Jungle Awakens added a modest amount of new gear focused around its setting, and Creeping Winter added a decent amount of gear centered around the ice and cold, Howling Peaks expectantly follows the same trend. This means wind, hinting at powerful knockback abilities, incapacitating tornadoes, and more. Below we’ll list some of the new Artifacts andUnique gearpresent in Minecraft Dungeons' Howling Peaks DLC:

Mobs and bosses

Like with gear and items, every expansion so far has added new mobs to Minecraft Dungeons, both friend and foe. Howling Peaks overall looks to be a combination of vanilla Minecraft and Creeping Winter, as we see the Iceologer and Frozen Zombies of Creeping Winter alongside the same classic mobs we’ve all grown accustomed to. However, Howling Peaks still manages to mix things up with a couple of key additions that drastically change the battlefield.

Here are a few of the new mob variants and types you can expect to see in Minecraft Dungeons' Howling Peaks DLC:

Challenging Missions

A new feature that was introduced in Creeping Winter was Missions, or specific scenarios for levels that mixed up the rules a bit and presented unique challenges for players to complete. These Missions are more difficult but also reward players with more powerful gear they couldn’t otherwise obtain. It’s a great way to inject variety into the game, and Howling Peaks continues to add new Missions for players to find and complete.

We expect Missions specific to new Howling Peaks levels, but there will also be some new Missions available for existing levels as well, adding onto what’s already available. These Missions can do everything, from “The players have increased Knockback, but every mob is a Creeper” to “You deal 10x damage, but you’re not able to heal” and everything in between (I’m not sure those are Missions, but they could be!).

Will the Howling Peaks DLC have a free update for Minecraft Dungeons?

Following the precedent set by previous Minecraft Dungeons expansions, the Howling Peaks DLC is launching alongside a completely free update that will be available to all players, regardless of whether or not they bought the expansion. This free update will include quality-of-life improvements, bug fixes, and balancing changes, but will also sneak in some new content for players to enjoy.

Originally, it was believed that Minecraft Dungeons' Howling Peaks DLC would launch alongside the Apocalypse Plus mode, which promised to drastically improve the endgame content in Minecraft Dungeons with much higher difficulties, power levels, and more. However,Apocalypse Plus mode launched with the Spooky Fall Event, so Howling Peaks is doing something different for its free update.

Alongside all the general improvements mentioned above, Minecraft Dungeons' Howling Peaks DLC is adding a total of six new enchantments for weapons and armor, which players can discover just by picking up new gear as they play. While not the biggest addition made so far with an expansion release (Creeping Winter was notably impressive by adding new camp vendors like the updatedBlacksmith), there’s still more for all players to enjoy in Minecraft Dungeons.

When will the Howling Peaks DLC release for Minecraft Dungeons?

At first, it wasn’t clear when Minecraft Dungeons was going to release, but Mojang Studios gave players plenty of time to jump into this brand-new expansion before the holidays came and went, with theHowling Peaks DLC releasing for Minecraft Dungeons on December 9, 2020. In addition to the release of Howling Peaks, Minecraft Dungeons released thefull Howling Peaks soundtrack on Spotifythe week before, so be sure to check that out if you’re a fan of Minecraft’s signature sound.

Minecraft Dungeons' Howling Peaks DLC will be the last major update for Minecraft Dungeons in 2020, but that doesn’t mean Minecraft’s ARPG spin-off doesn’t have abig2021 planned. New expansions are coming and will be set in fan-favorite Minecraft locations. More on that below.

How much does the Howling Peaks DLC cost for Minecraft Dungeons?

Those who have been closely following Minecraft Dungeons so far will know that the first two expansions for the game, Jungle Awakens and Creeping Winter, could be purchased separately but were included in the Hero Pass, which offered a few other goodies and a discount for players. Howling Peaks is the third expansion for Minecraft Dungeons, and that means it sits outside of the Hero Pass.

Like always, you can purchase Howling Peaks by itself if you’re only interested in specific expansions, but completionists and Minecraft Dungeons super-fans will definitely want to invest in the replacement for the Hero Pass: The Season Pass. This one-time purchase gives you Howling Peaks right now, but it also promises you immediate access tothree moreMinecraft Dungeons DLC in the future, all at a slight discount.

Howling Peaks is available right now, but three more expansions have already been confirmed for Minecraft Dungeons, thanks to asneak peek we got during Minecraft Live. While it’s still far too early to know what exactly these expansions will include, we do already know where they’re going to be set:

You can purchase Howling Peaks by itself, or go ahead and secure the full Season Pass, right below.

If you’re interested in bringing a little bit of Minecraft into the real world, be sure to check out some of the Best Minecraft Toys, especially if you’re in the market for some Minecraft-themed gifts. Also, don’t forget that Minecraft Dungeons is available onXbox Cloud Gaming (Project xCloud), where it’s our pick as one of theBest Games on Xbox Cloud Gaming.

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.