It's that time of year again when thoughts turn to family, presents under the Christmas tree, turkey dinners, and giant twin swords to destroy unrelenting hordes of monsters.

Today we launch The Nate Before Christmas 2016 with both the original Crusaders for new players to unlock and two new Crusaders for advanced and veteran players.

As well as the repeat event and picking up RoboSanta and Frosty the Snowman if you don't already have them, players who get through the Tier One objectives will be able to tackle the more challenging Tier Two objectives. Their reward for beating them will be two new Crusaders to add to the team in the form of The Dark Elf Helper and Robo-Rudolph.

Note: Since the new 'You've Been Naughty' objective was just added this year, players who completed this event last year will need to do it before starting the Tier Two objectives, so be sure to save up 2,500 Tokens before resetting!

This new Tier One objective will see the Crusaders beset with coal monsters. These charcoal beasts reduce your gold find to zero for as long as they are on the screen and for an additional extra second after you kill them.

For the veteran or hard-working players who have completed all the Tier One objectives, the new objectives require you to purchase the Tier Two talent Do it Again in the Talents shop.

New Tier Two Crusader: The Dark Helper

Once unlocked you can tackle the five new objectives. The first of them is 'Recruit the Dark Helper.' The Dark Helper is an elf (natch) who temporarily knocks out the front two Crusaders. For 10 seconds they'll be put to sleep and reduce their DPS and disable all their formation abilities to 1 all the way to 300.

New Tier Two Crusader: Robo-Rudolph

'Recruit Robo-Rudolph' requires you escort the malfunctioning reindeer to area 300 where he will be serviced. Until you reach the workshop, he'll short circuit and debuff three random Crusaders to zero in the formation for up to 15 seconds.

New Tier Two Objective: Presents.

The 'Presents' objective is the equivalent of Christmas morning as you anxiously eye the wrapped boxes under the Christmas tree. Is that box a pair of socks or the brand new X-Station console? When you kill the present monsters, they'll randomly buff or debuff your Crusaders all the way to area 400. You won't know what the effect will be until you take the wrapping paper off.

New Tier Two Crusader: Let It Snow.

The penultimate new objective is 'Let It Snow.' Drifts of snowflakes will accumulate on random slots in the formation. The drifts will get larger and will reduce the DPS of the affected Crusaders by 1% up to a maximum of 100%. If you can dig yourself out in time and complete the area the debuff is reset to zero. You're going to need a snow shovel to make it to area 400.

New Tier Two Crusader: Robo-Christmas.

The final new objective is 'Robo-Christmas.' Only robot and Christmas-y Crusaders are available for selection to beat area 500.

Equipment for both Tier 1 and 2 Crusaders can be found in Christmas Silver and Jeweled Chests, which you can earn from objectives or buy in the shop. However, gear for the Tier 2 Crusaders will only appear once you've unlocked the respective Crusader.

Once you have enough tickets, you'll have until December 27th at Noon PST to complete the event before the holidays will be done for another year.