Dark and Darker Hotfix #131 Changes Loot Drops and Stash Sorting

The patch also optimizes character movement, changes ping behavior, and adjusts the Recurve Bow and Deathstep Boots.

0 1 4 minutes read

An armored adventurer sits on a chair inside a dimly lit dungeon.

IRONMACE’s Early Access Hotfix #131 changes the loot mix in Dark and Darker, increasing drops of Arcane Essence, Silver Coin, and ore while lowering drop rates for gems, cloaks, and high-rarity High-Roller gear. Stash sorting now merges matching item stacks and gold containers up to their capacity, and regular pings remain active until replaced or removed manually.

Character movement processing has also been optimized for server performance. Recurve Bow attacks recover faster, while Deathstep Boots gain movement speed and Armor Rating and receive a smaller Max Health penalty. Arena fixes address mode labels and ratings, party-size prompts, and past-season leaderboard entries, following Hotfix #130’s separate Individual Arena and Party Arena queues.

Dark and Darker Early Access Hotfix #131 Patch Notes

Bugfixes

Fixed an issue where, if the Fighter’s Fortified Ground deployment was interrupted before the banner was planted, the banner could remain attached to the character, making them appear to move extremely fast and stutter.
Fixed an issue where the hit sound could fail to play when struck by the Rogue’s Caltrops.
Fixed an issue where casting Polymorph as a Wizard from a high position in the Dual Caverns module of The Frost Mountain – Ice Cavern could cause the screen to be blocked by the inside of the polymorphed target’s face.
Fixed an issue where arrows stuck in front of the target in the Tavern could block projectiles, preventing the score from being displayed when hitting the target.
Fixed an issue where players could use abilities such as Electric Dash to climb above the rope exit in the Cave Hideout B module of the Goblin Caves and wait there.
Fixed an issue where the Ice Kobold Archer and Ice Kobold Axeman in The Frost Mountain could attack again immediately without pausing after an attack, making their attack rate faster than intended.
Fixed an issue where the secret book on the bookshelf in the High Priests module and the book lever in the Dark Magic Library module of the Crypt could fail to appear, preventing players from entering the secret areas.
Fixed an issue where a Skeleton Archer could stop attacking and become unresponsive if its target used Hide during its double shot.
Fixed an issue where the Lich and Skeleton Warlord could use soul absorption on the corpses of player summons, allowing their buffs to stack.
Fixed an issue where the Skeleton Warlord could move to the wrong location and temporarily disappear if it lost its target while teleporting.
Fixed an issue where bosses could attack players under Faustian Bargain who had not attacked them first.
Fixed an issue where projectiles such as Francisca Axes, Survival Bow arrows, Fire Orb, and Water Bolt could keep playing their trail effects and sounds and keep spinning when they first came into view after they had already hit.
Fixed an issue where the bandage usage gauge could intermittently fail to appear when using a Bandage.
Fixed an issue where the Quick Slot key numbers could fail to display while resting.
Fixed an issue where the buff expiration sound could play at the map’s origin when a buffed target, such as one under a Potion of Protection, disappeared from view.
Fixed an issue where dragging and dropping the Solaris Cuirass in the inventory could play the regular plate armor sound instead of the artifact sound.
Fixed an issue where, while spectating, the screen effects and sounds of the Dark Swarm and other floor effects applied to the spectated player could fail to appear or play for the spectator.
Fixed an issue where, on the dungeon select screen, clicking Individual Arena or Party Arena and then exiting with ESC without confirming could cause the mode text and Rating to not match the selected mode when re-entering the screen.
Fixed an issue where a message asking to allow empty party slots to be filled, an option that does not exist in the Arena, could appear when the party size did not match the Arena mode.
Fixed an issue where past-season Arena entries on the Leaderboard could be displayed with the same names as this season’s Party Arena and Individual Arena, making them hard to tell apart.
Fixed an issue where the Migration Code description in the Account tab of the Options menu could overflow its box and overlap the lobby screen.

Game Updates

Optimized character movement processing to improve server performance.
Regular pings now remain until replaced by a new ping or removed manually, and only Highlight Pings now expire automatically after 60 seconds.
When sorting the stash, stacks of the same item and gold coin containers such as Gold Coin Purses and Gold Coin Chests are now merged up to their maximum capacity.
Added Mute/Unmute All (default key: /) and Reduce/Restore Volume (default key: ‘) shortcuts.

Balance Updates

General

Adjusted loot tables and drop rates for monsters and chests. Increased Arcane Essence, Silver Coin, and ore drops, and reduced the drop rates of gems, cloaks, and high-rarity High-Roller gear.

Items

The Recurve Bow’s standard attack and Nimble Hands attack now recover faster, allowing quicker follow-up shots.
The Deathstep Boots now have Armor Rating 3, Move Speed increased from 6 to 10, Additional Move Speed 3 replaced with Move Speed Bonus 1.5%, and the Max Health penalty reduced from -5 to -3.

Which Hotfix #131 change will affect your runs most? For more on the Arena queues and their follow-up fixes, stay connected through X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.

An unforgiving hardcore fantasy FPS dungeon PvPvE adventure. Band together with your friends and use your courage, wits, and cunning to uncover mythical treasures, defeat gruesome monsters, while staying one step ahead of the other devious treasure-hunters.