Dawn of Defiance, Traega Entertainment’s Greek mythology survival game, received its Hounds of Zeus update on October 8th, 2026. You can play it solo or with up to three friends. Fireshine Games publishes the game, which is still in Early Access. The update was already live when its trailer appeared at The MIX Fall Online Showcase on October 16th. That trailer shows the update’s main parts: a raid against winged Harpy bosses, three Legendary weapons, two armor sets, a reworked snowy mountain biome, and the game’s first real cooking and farming systems.
Quick answer: Hounds of Zeus is out now on Steam and the Epic Games Store. It adds a three-boss Harpy raid in Zeus’ Temple, three Legendary weapons, Praetorian and Pathfinder armor, a mountain overhaul, and cooking and farming.
The Hounds of Zeus raid: Harpies in Zeus’ Temple
The new raid takes place in a skyborne area sealed inside Zeus’ Temple. You get there through a huge stone temple doorway and then pass through underground magma caverns. Those caverns contain resource crystals you can mine along the way. Inside the temple, you fight mythical Harpies, which are winged warriors in gold armor. The raid has three boss encounters.
The trailer ends on the hardest-looking moment of the raid. A glowing orb forms above the arena and drops down. When it lands, it reveals three Harpies at once, each holding a golden double-bladed polearm. Earlier footage shows one large winged boss landing in the arena and spreading dark wings against a group of players. That group uses both melee weapons and magic.
The Harpies are not the only large enemies in the footage. Players also fight an armored, horned minotaur that swings an axe, an ogre-like giant outside a marble gateway, and centaurs in a snowy ravine.
Hounds of Zeus Legendary weapons and armor
Beating the Harpy bosses rewards you with three Legendary weapons. Each one is named after a god and has its own special effect.
| Weapon | Tier | Shown as | Effect in footage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voidstorm | Legendary | Zeus’ hammer, golden mace with shield | Ground slam with a light beam |
| Veiled Blade of Hermes | Legendary | Molten, fiery sword | Player turns invisible |
| Distortions of Dionysus | Legendary | Decorated mace with purple shield | Explosive purple cloud |
The on-screen names change slightly from one place to another. The release trailer uses “Zeus’ Voidstorm,” “Hermes’ Veiled Blade,” and “Distortion of Dionysus,” while other update materials use “Distortions of Dionysus” and “Veiled Blade of Hermes.” Either way, these are the same three weapons.
The update also adds two armor sets. You earn the Praetorian set as a raid reward. It is plated armor with red-crested helmets, and the trailer shows it in both crimson-and-gold and blue-and-gold versions on male and female characters. The Pathfinder set is Forged-tier armor, and you find it by hunting in the Crossroads. The Crossroads also contain three new Unique-tier swords, which are separate from the three Legendary weapons.
Cooking and farming in Dawn of Defiance
Outside of combat, Hounds of Zeus turns your homestead into a small farm. You plant crops, harvest the ingredients, and cook them into meals. Meals give you buffs that help in both everyday survival and combat. The trailer shows a Potato Seed going into a planter patch using the [E] Plant Patch prompt. Crops need water, shown on screen as Hydrate: Water, and the footage includes a player using a Water Well.
The update adds these new structures for farming and cooking:
- Water reservoir
- Planter box
- Improved Cooking Spit, which needs Raw Meat
- Cooking Pot, which combines meat, veggie, and herb ingredients
The Cooking Pot screen sorts ingredients into three groups: MEAT, VEGGIE, and HERB. Once you have picked your ingredients, you press [F] Cook. One recipe shown in full is Minty Meat & Onions. It is a Common Meal described as “a seasoned piece of meat,” and its buffs last 20 minutes.
| Minty Meat & Onions bonus | Value |
|---|---|
| Health Max | +30 |
| Health Regen Rate | +1.5/s |
| Heat Resistance | +5 |
| Stamina Max | +20 |
| Stamina Regen Rate | +1/s |
| Chopping 2X Resource Chance | +10% |
This meal shows how food works in the game. A single recipe boosts both health and stamina, protects against heat, and raises your chance of getting extra wood when chopping. That makes food something you plan around, not just a way to stay alive.
Mountain biome overhaul and new quests
The snowy mountain biome has been rebuilt with new quests and survival mechanics. The footage shows icy cliffs, mountain ruins, and players blowing up rock with explosives. Here is what has been added to the area:
- Puzzles, including a stone platform puzzle you interact with
- Chalices you need to fill
- Races to complete
- A new cave system with new resources, including crystal-lined caverns
The trailer also shows smaller survival details, such as picking up stone, collecting resin, and opening treasure chests. Cooking fits into this area too. The Cooking Spit appears in the mountain footage, and the Heat Resistance bonus on meals suggests the game wants you to think about temperature as you travel.
Hera’s Sundial, decor, and portals
The update also adds some new building pieces. Hera’s Sundial is a new facility, shown as a carved stone sundial on a wooden deck beside a lake. New decor includes stone furniture, such as carved dining tables and chairs, along with statues, banners, and trophy helm stands. The trailer shows these in a large villa hall and in a wooden hall with an indoor pool.
A reworked portal experience is also part of the update. In the footage, armored players walk through an open stone portal and come out in a different biome.
Dawn of Defiance price, platforms, and 1.0 plans
Hounds of Zeus is a free Early Access update for everyone who owns Dawn of Defiance on PC through Steam or the Epic Games Store. The game is currently 40 percent off until October 22nd on both stores. You can buy it on the Dawn of Defiance Steam page.
Traega Entertainment plans to release the full 1.0 version of the game next year. No exact date for 1.0 has been confirmed yet.
