Patch:6.5

Patch Notes summary here (dates included)

Hotfix 53

Patch Notes:

• Fixed an issue where the user's name could sometimes not be entered when creating a new character.
• Fixed an issue where the Druid's Herbal Sensing perk could not properly detect herbs.
• Fixed an issue where Dreamwalk would not activate when a Warlock attacks a Druid while in demon form.
• Fixed an issue where Druid’s Dreamfire damage did not scale properly.
• Fixed an issue where standing on the Druid's Entangling Vines would not cause the player to be bound again even if the immune status was removed.
• Fixed an issue where lockpicks were not consumed when lockpicking an iron door.
• Fixed an issue where the Ghost King would become invisible.
• Fixed an issue where the updraft escape was not working properly after killing a Frost Wyvern.
• Fixed an issue where Druids could not be given Karma.
• Warlock’s Curse of Weakness no longer stacks.
• Frost Wyvern's physical attacks are now 100% physical attacks. Previously it was 50% physical and 50% magical damage.
• Frost Wyvern damage increased by 10%.
• Frost Wyvern now applies a debuff that reduces action speed to the target.
• Frost Wyvern now uses its tail attack more often when enemies are closer to it.
• The treasure in Goblin Cave's Vault now spawns after immediately killing both Troll and Cyclops.
• The location of the Portal Pedestal is now displayed on the minimap.
• Quest ‘My Favorite Fleshy’ quest has now been changed to require all prerequisite quests to be completed.
• Quest 'My Favorite Fleshy' goal has been changed to kill 15 mummies.
• Now, when entering a normal game, the Squire will inform you of the gear score criteria.
• You may now claim the EA2 Adventurer Rank rewards.
• Squire accounts can now become Apprentice Traders and use the Marketplace for purchases only.
• The size of the Shared Stash has been changed to the maximum size.
• The cross-platform link function has been updated to function properly.

Developer Comment: We are happy to announce the introduction of the platform link system. This system allows players to transfer their progression from a previous platform to a new platform. This means that if you had previously purchased the game, you are no longer bound to a single platform and can play on the platform of your choice without the need to repurchase the game. Existing players can access the platform link by going to the 'Options' menu and selecting the ‘Platform’ option from the top menu. Please note that the new platform account must have no characters associated with it. If you already created a character you will need to delete all characters on the new platform and restart the client to initiate the platform link transfer process. Most importantly, the new platform account you are linking to must have no purchases associated with it. The platform link feature cannot combine accounts if you made separate purchases on both accounts. In this case, we recommend creating a brand-new “clean” account on the new platform to link your previous account. We have also considered concerns about possible pay to win advantages due to the discrepancy in access to the marketplace between Squire and Legendary status accounts. In response to these concerns, we have decided to experiment with giving Squire accounts very limited access to the marketplace. Squire accounts can become an ‘apprentice trader’ with the ability to only BUY items from the marketplace. Only Legendary status accounts retain the right to become full fledged traders with unrestricted access to the marketplace and the Trading Post. We have also decided to upgrade the exclusive ‘Shared Stash’ to a full-sized stash as a thank you to all our Legendary status accounts. We will continue to work on giving more value for all our Legendary adventurers in the future. Thank you once again for all your support!

Hotfix 52-1

Patch Notes:

• Fixed an issue that could occasionally cause the server to crash.
• Fixed an issue where Ignite was not applied properly to weapons.
• Fixed an issue where the sound that occurred when hitting the Thorn Barrier with a weapon was set incorrectly.
• Fixed an issue where Frost Wyverns could sometimes take damage without waking up.
• Fixed an issue where the rope escape would not work properly.
• To allow all players to experience the full loot extraction experience, we will begin testing an updated Normal mode.
• The gear cap for Normal mode dungeons has been increased from ‘Common’ to ‘Legendary’ grade items.
• Gear score matchmaking is enabled for Normal mode dungeons.
• Normal mode dungeons are now split into two matching pools. The default matching pool is set at a maximum gear score of 25 to most closely match the previous Normal game experience where players were restricted to ‘Common’ gear. Players or teams with anyone having a gear score above 25 are placed in a more difficult ‘Normal' matching pool.
• Updated the gear score for Poor and Common items to have a lower gear score.
• Updated the gear score for Poor and Common Utility items to no longer provide any gear score.
• Healing potions and Bandages provided by Squire now have a quantity of 2.
• High Roller dungeon is available as soon as you reach ‘Legendary’ status.
• Trade must be available 72 hours after 'Legendary' status is activated.

Changes implemented that were intended to be released with Hotfix 52:

• Druid's Bear left click's attack changed from 10 additional damage to 5, and multiplier reduced from 1.5 to 1.0.
• Druid's Bear right click attack multiplier reduced to from 3.0 to 2.0.
• Druid's Panther left click attack changed from 5 additional damage to 0.
• Druid's Panther right click attack changed from 5 additional damage to 0 and multiplier reduced from 2.0 to 1.5.
• Druid's Chicken left click attack multiplier reduced from 2.0 to 1.5.

Developer Comments: We’ve been thinking deeply about recent issues with our Free to Play (f2p) version and wanted to give our new players a more complete full loot extraction experience. After careful consideration we have decided to test the removal of the item restrictions in the Normal mode, allowing players to bring in any of their loot into the dungeons up to 'Legendary' grade.

In order to protect new users from being completely run over by fully geared players, we will be utilizing a gear based matchmaking system in the Normal mode. We still feel that matches where most players start off on a similar footing is extremely fun and fair. The default Normal mode will have a maximum gear score limit set to 25, basically restricting players to mostly ‘Common’ grade gear. This default matching pool should feel like the previous gear restricted Normal mode from before.

Players with higher gear will be matched into a separate matching pool where almost everything goes. We expect the addition of this matching pool will help the Normal matches feel similar to the previous playtests from times yonder with much chaos and destruction. We do have some concerns regarding pub stomping, but we’d rather give players this choice of play. We have also made the game a little more forgiving when it comes to engaging in combat and escaping, which should make the above situations more avoidable.

We are excited to see how the community accepts the new Normal mode. We’d like to reiterate that it was never our intention to mislead our players and we are learning from your feedback. If you are curious on our motivations for releasing the game as free to play, we invite you to check out our extended thoughts on our website at https://darkanddarker.com/news/58. Finally, unless we encounter major issues, the Platform Link feature that allows players to link their previous account to a new platform is scheduled to be completed within the week. We thank you for your patience.

Hotfix 52

Patch Notes:

• Fixed an issue where accounts could revert to Squire status after purchasing Legendary status.
• Fixed an issue where Redstone Shards could not be properly obtained after purchase on all platforms.
• Fixed several issues causing client crashes.
• Fixed an issue where no action could be taken after being pushed by a monster during rope action.
• Fixed an issue where the Fighter's Breakthrough could not ignore the Druid's Entangling Vines.
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to obtain the contents of the treasure chest without defeating the wyvern using the Druid's rat form.
• Fixed an issue where quests requiring exploration of Prison A could not be completed.
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to enter the treasure vault without defeating the wyvern using the Druid's rat form.
• Druid's Nature's Touch cast time changed from 1s → 0.75s.
• Druid's Summon Treant spell count changed from 5 → 4.
• Druid's Dreamfire spell tier changed from 4 → 3.
• Druid's Entangling Vines spell tier changed from 3 → 4.
• Druid's Entangling Vines spell count changed from 4 → 3.
• Druid's Entangling Vines cast time changed from 1s → 1.25s
• Druid's Entangling Vines duration changed from 3s → 1s.
• Druid's Entangling Vines immunity time changed from 3s → 1s.
• Druid's Entangling Vines will now only have one on the field.
• Druid's Entangling Vines no longer causes spells from multiple casters to apply consecutively.
• Druid's Thorn Barrier spell count changed from 4 → 3.
• Druid's Thorn Barrier cast time changed from 1s → 1.25s
• Druid's Thorn Barrier damage changed from 10 → 4.
• Druid's Restore cast time changed from 1s → 1.75s.
• Druid's Mending Grove spell tier changed from 5 → 6.
• Druid's Mending Grove casting time changed from 1s → 2s.
• The 72-hour lockout timer has been turned off for some time to allow for elaborate rework.

Patch 5

Wipe #4 Early Access Season #4

We are currently in the final stages of tweaking the patch process to support multiple platforms and will take some time to complete.

Summary

• The addition of the new Ice Abyss!
• The addition of the new Druid Class!
• New emotes and the Lycan race!
• Renewed focus on dungeon crawling, starting with the removal of the circle mechanic.
• Ability to upgrade to Legendary Status!
• Cross-play across multiple PC platforms.
• Major balance changes!

Season Roadmap

On top of the new features, we’d like to give a small peek into some of our plans this season including:

• A Platform Link feature that allows for cross-progression across multiple PC platforms. For our players on Blacksmith who have already purchased the game and want to launch their account from another platform, we ask for your patience and continue playing on Blacksmith for just a little bit longer until this system is released. We feel strongly that our early adopters should not be required to re-purchase the game on another cross-play PC platform.
• An updated ‘Adventure Leaderboards’ that reward actual dungeon adventuring rather than the loot you collect.
• An upgraded matchmaking system that removes the pre-lobby, ratcheting up tension and improving the matchmaking times.
• A renewed Gathering Hall that includes the return of the Tavern as a social place to hang out, meet party members, and see Otto!
• The introduction of the Arena, a new game mode and leaderboard system that showcases team PvP skills.
• Experimenting with randomly generated dungeon layouts to add more mystery and motivation to explore the dungeons.

Patch Notes

• Fixed an issue where Rogue's skills could still be displayed while in hiding.
• Fixed the missing action speed primary attribute for the Lightbringer.
• Fixed an issue where Bard's persuasiveness did not work properly.
• Fighter’s Sprint additional movespeed has been changed from 50 → 20.
• Fighter’s Breakthrough duration has been changed from 8s → 10s, cooldown has been changed 18s → 24s.
• Barbarian's Iron Will additional magic resistance changed from 100 → 60.
• Rogue's Stealth no longer reveals his silhouette.
• Rogue's Stealth increases movement speed by 3 per step. For each step you take, you lose your movement speed bonus.
• Rogue's Hide duration changed from 6 → 8.
• Rogue's Hide Mastery grants 3 times the hide time.
• Rogue’s Weakpoint Attack’s armor rationg bonus reduction has been improved from -30% → -40%.
• Ranger's Multishot now causes all arrows to deal 100% damage. (before: 50%/75%/100%/75%/50%)
• Warlock's all spells cost has been slightly reduced.
• Warlock's Evileye has been temporarily removed.
• Explosive Bottle's interval has been changed to 0.1 and damage per interval has been changed from 3 → 1.5.
• Explosive Bottle's attribute bonus ratio has been changed from 0 → 0.1.
• Throwing Daggers now stack from 1->2.
• Lowered AR for Plate armor by 2-3%
• Lowered the Projectile protection by 40% so total Projectile for full plate is down from 17% to around 10%
• Fixed the missing action speed primary attribute for the Lightbringer.
• Barbarian specific armors give slightly less AR, MR and have slightly more move speed penalty.
• Slightly improved the amount of movespeed gained per agility.

Undocumented Changes

Notes by the wiki (WIP)

• Monsters AP changed- only a few decreased like Death Beetles, mostly increased anywhere from 10% to double. On average roughly 30% increase across the board.
• New monsters added: Frost Wyvern, Ice Harpy, Ice Hound, Yeti, Frost Sentinel, Frost Elemental, Frost Skeleton Halberdier, Frost Skeleton Maceman, Frost Skeleton Axeman, Frost Demon, Frozen Ghost, Ice Giant Spider, Ice Spider
• All monster changes from Patch 4 Hotfix 51 to Patch 5 can be found here https://www.diffchecker.com/aC5eGPB5/. Note that some monsters were added in the backend in Hotfix 51, but did not appear in game until Patch 5, such as the Yeti
• Agility curve gives more movement speed, see specifics here https://www.diffchecker.com/WhrXGhtl/ or below
• Minor changes to arbitrary weapons, see specifics here https://www.diffchecker.com/8On5cSX6/ some non-TwoHanders now have a Prepare-Movement Multiplier
• Minor changes to arbitrary armors, see specifics here https://www.diffchecker.com/7JsfDhKD/
• Minor changes to arbitrary accessories, see specifics here https://www.diffchecker.com/lZBuDTZd/

Agility curve changes

Patch 4 Hotfix 51

0 Agility starts at -7.5 Move Speed.

• 0 -> -7.5
• 0 to 100 = 0.5 each, up to 42.5

Patch 5

0 Agility starts at -10 Move Speed.

• 0 -> -10
• 0 to 10 = 0.5 each, up to -5
• 10 to 15 = 1 each, up to 0
• 15 to 75 = 0.75 each, up to 45
• 75 to 100 = 0.5 each, up to 57.5

Community written summary

Patch notes summary written by the community here

Developer Comments

We are pleased to announce the following changes! Join us this season for our biggest adventure yet as we dive deep into the Ice Abyss and take on the fearsome Frost Wyvern. We are also proud to announce the addition of the new Druid class and the ability to shapeshift into powerful animal forms. We hope you enjoy the new content and we look forward to seeing you in the dungeons!