Dark and Darker Hotfix #129 Sets New Combat Benchmarks

IRONMACE adjusted weapon damage across rarities using time-to-kill and hits-to-kill targets, with a broader class ability rebalance still ahead.

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Dark and Darker's Hotfix #119 makes the end-of-season run harsher and richer

Early Access Hotfix #129 establishes a new combat-balance baseline for Dark and Darker, with weapon damage adjusted around target time-to-kill (TTK) and hits-to-kill (HTK) figures. IRONMACE framed the changes as the first step in a broader effort in its Steam announcement.

The weapon pass is not a flat damage cut. At Epic rarity, Double Axe damage drops from 64-67 to 52-55, while Hatchet damage rises from 29-31 to 32-35. Hand Cannon damage falls from 65-68 to 31-35, but its True Physical Damage increases from 16 to 36. The notes say weapon values can change by rarity.

IRONMACE built its targets around equipment without random modifiers, so combinations of modifiers and builds can still produce fights that differ from the intended benchmarks. The developer says further adjustments will address those cases, including a comprehensive rebalance of class abilities. Several new combat systems are also in development.

Dark and Darker Early Access Hotfix #129 Patch Notes

Bugfixes

Fixed an issue where the server could crash during dungeon play.
Fixed an issue where players could be unable to control their character properly after exiting and reconnecting to the game while controlling a monster with Faustian Bargain.
Fixed an issue where Fighters with Slayer equipped could not wear Scaled Armor and Tidal Scaled Armor.
Fixed an issue where Warlocks with Demon Armor equipped could wear some Chain armor (Viking Helm, Cobalt Viking Helm, Gjermundbu, Golden Gjermundbu, Scaled Armor, Tidal Scaled Armor).
Fixed an issue where the Death Beetle’s trail effect could fail to display at certain distances.
Fixed an issue where the reduction to the remaining duration of Magic Debuffs could fail to increase when replaying Cleansing Cadence with Encore.
Fixed an issue where casting another spell after the Sorcerer’s Mud Shield could fail because the hand would collide with the shield.
Fixed an issue where pressing the special action key (R) while attacking or blocking did not cancel the selected Spell.
Fixed an issue where characters could take damage from area attacks during the revival animation.
Fixed an issue where characters could be invisible during the revival animation.
Fixed an issue where summons created after forming a party in the dungeon could recognize summons created before forming the party as enemies and attack them.
Fixed an issue where players could become stuck and unable to move if they spawned overlapping another player upon entering the Tavern.
Fixed an issue where monsters could fail to properly track players in some areas of The Ashen Range – Firedeep.
Fixed an issue where a Mysterious Room would always appear in The Forgotten Castle – Crypt.
Fixed an issue in some modules of The Forgotten Castle – Inferno where the areas around blood stains and sulfur sediments on the floor could appear black.
Fixed an issue where using a Ping on areas hidden by the Fog of War could reveal the terrain height.
Fixed an issue where equipping or swapping an item could cause it to appear at a different location in the dungeon.
Fixed an issue where the tooltip could display the previous item’s information after swapping items by right-clicking.
Fixed an issue where spectators in Custom Play Arena matches were spawned as invulnerable characters from the second round onward.
Fixed an issue where another player’s equipment could be stored with the Expressman by moving it into and back out of their party member’s corpse, which changed its loot state to Looted.
Fixed an issue where the price could fail to appear at the bottom of item tooltips in the Merchant trade screen.
Fixed an issue where right-clicking an item in a merchant’s sell list would not remove it from the list.
Fixed an issue where unintended shadows could appear in the Golden Panther and Golden Bear previews in the Shapeshift tab of Customize.

Game Updates

Improved input delays and interruptions when moving items in the lobby.
Adventure Rank and Arena Rank rewards for EA Season 11 have been revealed.
The “During one session” requirement has been removed from some quests.
Stash sorting has been improved. Gold Containers of the same type are now sorted by the amount of gold they hold, and individual Gold Coins by quantity, from highest to lowest.
The Custom Play entry screen has been improved.
Some fall zones along the paths in the Wyvern Lair and Reversed Pyramid modules in The Frost Mountain – Ice Abyss have been removed.
Passages leading to adjacent modules have been added to each module in The Forgotten Castle – Ruins.
All Jail Doors now spawn unlocked. In some modules in The Forgotten Castle – Crypt, the chest that spawns inside the jail now spawns as a Lion’s Head Chest, Golden Chest, or Cursed Chest.
The red tint in The Forgotten Castle – Inferno has been toned down to improve visibility.
Broken Glasses, Bellows, and Bronze Scale can now also be found at specific locations in the dungeons.
All Wood Barrels now have a chance to spawn a Skeleton when broken, and barrels that spawn a Skeleton or that a player was hiding in no longer drop items.
A new Artifact, the Solaris Cuirass, has been added.
Improved the sound effects for the second Secondary Attack and the counterattack of the Glaive and Hellguard Glaive.

Balance Updates

General

Adjusted the drop tables for some items required for quests and crafting.
Adjusted the drop tables for cloaks and accessories.
Adjusted the rarity distribution of equipment and gems dropped by some monsters.
Added 3 equipment slots to the Goblin Smuggler’s shop.
Reduced the price of some items sold by the Goblin Smuggler.

Items

The rarity of the Void Blade has been changed from Legendary to Epic.
Plate armor Magic Resistance has been adjusted from -5 to -1.
Thorn Shield Armor Rating has been decreased from 29-30 to 16-17, and Move Speed has been adjusted from -10 to -7.
The -5 Magic Resistance has been removed from the Golden Hounskull and Golden Plate.
Obsidian Bloodwoven Robe has been changed to Cloth armor: Armor Rating has been decreased from 46-47 to 18-19, 60 Magic Resistance has been added, and Move Speed has been adjusted from -12 to -9. It is now crafted by the Tailor instead of the Leathersmith.
Cobalt Hat has been changed from Leather armor to Cloth armor.
Weapon stats have been changed as follows (based on Epic rarity; the amount of change may vary by rarity for each weapon):
- Arming Sword Weapon Damage has been adjusted from 36-38 to 34-37.
- Bardiche Weapon Damage has been decreased from 60-63 to 56-59.
- Battle Axe Weapon Damage has been decreased from 56-59 to 50-53.
- Ceremonial Staff Weapon Damage has been increased from 30-32 to 32-35.
- Crystal Sword Weapon Damage has been increased from 17-18 to 19-21, and Magic Weapon Damage has been decreased from 15-17 to 14-16.
- Double Axe Weapon Damage has been decreased from 64-67 to 52-55.
- Falchion Weapon Damage has been decreased from 47-49 to 44-46.
- Felling Axe Weapon Damage has been decreased from 54-57 to 42-45.
- Flanged Mace Weapon Damage has been decreased from 43-45 to 32-35, and Armor Penetration has been increased from 10% to 30%.
- Glaive Weapon Damage has been decreased from 56-59 to 52-55.
- Halberd Weapon Damage has been decreased from 58-61 to 54-57.
- Hatchet Weapon Damage has been increased from 29-31 to 32-35.
- Horseman’s Axe Weapon Damage has been increased from 33-35 to 34-36, and 10% Armor Penetration has been added.
- Kris Dagger Weapon Damage has been decreased from 28-30 to 26-28.
- Morning Star Weapon Damage has been decreased from 45-47 to 32-34, Armor Penetration has been increased from 10% to 50%, and Move Speed has been adjusted from -25 to -30.
- Rondel Dagger Weapon Damage has been decreased from 28-30 to 22-24, and Armor Penetration has been increased from 7% to 30%.
- Short Sword Weapon Damage has been increased from 29-31 to 31-33.
- Spear Weapon Damage has been decreased from 46-48 to 43-45.
- Spellbook Weapon Damage has been increased from 22 to 25-26.
- Stiletto Dagger Weapon Damage has been decreased from 29-31 to 25-27.
- War Hammer Weapon Damage has been decreased from 46-48 to 33-35, and Armor Penetration has been increased from 10% to 25%.
- War Maul Weapon Damage has been decreased from 69-72 to 56-60.
- Magic Staff Weapon Damage has been adjusted from 33 to 31-34, with a wider gap between rarities: Poor has been decreased from 29 to 19-22, and Unique has been increased from 35 to 37-40.
- Crossbow Weapon Damage has been decreased from 60-63 to 41-44.
- Hand Cannon Weapon Damage has been decreased from 65-68 to 31-35, and True Physical Damage has been increased from 16 to 36.
- Longbow Weapon Damage has been decreased from 51-54 to 41-44.
- Recurve Bow Weapon Damage has been decreased from 41-43 to 35-37.
- Survival Bow Weapon Damage has been increased from 22-23 to 25-27.
- Windlass Crossbow Weapon Damage has been decreased from 68-71 to 52-55.
- Artifact and crafted items have been adjusted to match the base weapon of the same rarity.
- Bloodsap Blade Move Speed has been adjusted from -15 to -10.
- Merrymaker Move Speed has been adjusted from -11 to -10.
- Divine Rod, Rod of Righteousness, Sterling Rod, Light Bringer, Divine Dagger, Dagger of Righteousness, Sterling Dagger, and Merrymaker Armor Penetration has been adjusted to 30%.
- Golden Scripture of Solaris Move Speed has been adjusted from -16 to -15.
- Obsidian War Hammer Armor Penetration has been increased from 12% to 27%.
- Obsidian Morningstar Armor Penetration has been increased from 12% to 52%, and Move Speed has been adjusted from -25 to -30.

Which weapon change do you think will affect your loadout most? For more on the class rebalance IRONMACE says will follow, connect with us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.

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