Dark and Darker just hit a bump on its road to the next season. Instead of rushing out new content, the developers decided to push the upcoming season back to September 23. Why? Their two big features, a water-themed dungeon and a social Gathering Hall, aren’t quite ready. It’s a tough call, but probably the right one to avoid a half-baked launch.
To keep things from going stale, a mini-season called ‘EA Season 6.9’ will kick off on August 26. This isn’t your typical season with flashy new features, but it does come with a “Semi-Semi-Wipe” that resets character levels, items, quests, and more. The first half will be solo self-found (SSF) mode, and the marketplace will only unlock for the last two weeks. You’ll also get a fresh Adventure Rank season, a new Arena season with updated maps, and a religion season offering rewards. Not bad for a filler, huh?
Now, about that anniversary. To celebrate two years of Early Access, the Skeleton merchant is back at the tavern with new quests and a lobby emote. It’s a little something to spice up your dungeon runs while waiting for the real deal in September.
Bug fixes are part of this patch, too. Name tags should finally show up correctly when entering The Forgotten Castle as a trio via Random Matchmaking. Some inconsistencies with crafted Longswords and Copperlight Leggings have been fixed, along with improvements to in-game news display and language settings. Nothing game-breaking, but nice to have.
Balance tweaks hit daggers with a +1 weapon damage bump. Barbarians see a nerf to their Morale Boost healing (down from 33% to 25%) and a halving of their Berserker move speed bonus. Druids get slowed down in Bear form, with action speed penalties increased and shapeshift cooldowns lengthened. Also, the timing of Bear’s Swipe attack now triggers on swing instead of wind-up. It’s a bit of a climb for those classes.
Patch Notes
- Fixed an issue where Name Tags might not be visible when entering The Forgotten Castle as a trio using Random Matchmaking.
- Fixed an issue where some crafted Longswords had higher Weapon Damage than other Longswords of the same rarity.
- Fixed an issue where Copperlight Leggings might not appear in the Leathersmith’s craftable items.
- Fixed usability issues which caused in-game news to display abnormally or with a delay.
- Fixed an issue where the News title might not change to the correct language when the language setting is changed.
- A special event will be held to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of Dark and Darker. The Skeleton merchant will visit, and new quests and a new lobby emote will be added.
- Arena Test Season 5 is scheduled to end at 00:00 on August 25.
- Religion Season 4 is scheduled to end at 06:00 on August 26.
- Improved an issue where the game could intermittently fail to run properly.
- Weapon damage of all daggers has been increased by +1.
- Barbarian: Morale Boost healing reduced from 33% to 25%.
- Barbarian: Berserker maximum move speed bonus reduced from 10% to 5%.
- Druid: Action speed while in Bear form reduced from -30% to -40%.
- Druid: Shapeshift cooldown per stack increased from 6 seconds to 9 seconds.
- Druid: Bear’s Swipe attack hit timing adjusted to occur on swing instead of during wind-up.
What’s the deal with delaying a season? It’s rough news, especially when the community is hungry for fresh content. But guess what? Rushing something half-finished might have done more harm than good. Players will get a chance to jump into this mini-season and enjoy some fresh challenges and rewards before the big update arrives.
Curious how the community will react? Some might be bummed out, others relieved. Either way, the team at IRONMACE is working hard to bring a solid update on September 23. Until then, enjoy the Skeleton’s quests and maybe sharpen those daggers a bit.
Discuss your thoughts on this patch and the delay in the comments below.
