Early Access Season #6 – Patchnotes

Early Access Season #6 – Patchnotes

Season 6 of Dark and Darker is nearly here, and it’s bringing a massive wave of bug fixes, quality-of-life improvements, and exciting new content!

Bug Fix
From spellcasting glitches and awkward weapon swaps to map exploits and invisible props, this update squashes dozens of long-standing bugs. Dungeon layouts are smoother, combat feels cleaner, and annoying visual/audio quirks have been ironed out.

New PvE-Only Mode: Adventure Mode
Looking for a safer journey? The all-new Adventure Mode delivers a more casual, PvE-focused experience without the PvP pressure.

Fresh Gear & Crafting Content

• New item grade: Artifact
• 2 new throwables: Poison Vial, Ghostdust Pouch
• 3 new craftables: Staff of Gluttony, Crystal Frost Ring, Tome of Sheol
• New boss summon items + tougher boss stats

Inferno Expanded
Four new Inferno monsters and three terrifying sub-bosses (hello, Cerberus) spice up the endgame. Nightmare variants also got new patterns, so watch your back.

Economy & Progression Tweaks

• Marketplace and Trading Post closed for the first 2 weeks
• Account-wide Merchant and Marketplace access
• Crafting limits increased
• More generous Reward Token drops (including a 0.1% chance at Unique items!)

General Upgrades
Improved visuals, sound polish, UI tweaks, new emotes, and better accessibility across languages. Also: The Expressman is back—floor-to-floor deliveries are on!

Twitch Drops Return
A new Twitch campaign is just around the corner—keep an eye on the official Discord for when it goes live.

Get ready—Season 6 is shaping up to be Dark and Darker’s most refined and feature-packed season yet!

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed an issue where channeling-type skills occasionally failed to activate.
• Fixed an issue where Sorcerers could use Electric Dash to cross unopened drawbridges.
• Fixed an issue where pressing the R key at a specific time while the Sorcerer was Merging Spells could cancel the cast and leave the casting bar stuck on screen.
• Fixed an issue where Bards playing the Peacemaker song could be hit by a Wizard’s Explosion spell even if they were outside the impact area.
• Fixed an issue where Druids reverting from any animal form to human form might not hear the transformation completion sound.
• Fixed an issue where the Fighter’s Shield Slam could be canceled when used at a specific time.
• Fixed an issue where casting Area of Effect (AOE) spells from stairs or lower floors towards the upper floor’s ground could consume the spell without activation.
• Fixed an issue where hitting a corpse could result in the attack being blocked.
• Fixed an issue where the movement of the Nightmare Goblin Warrior appeared unnatural.
• Fixed an issue where Frost Skeleton Axemen could continue attacking deceased players.
• Fixed an issue where slimes might not take damage from a Wizard’s Explosion.
• Fixed an issue where the poison effect of the Giant Worm would display bubble effects floating in the air when on a sloped surface.
• Fixed an issue where the Ghost King’s attacks affected monsters, causing them to die after a single hit following the Ghost King’s attack pattern.
• Fixed an issue where the Zombie’s poison cloud effect and sound did not synchronize properly.
• Fixed an issue where after defeating a Nightmare Demon Dog or a Nightmare Frost Skeleton Guardsman, leaving and re-entering the rendering range could cause unintended sounds to play from their corpses.
• Fixed an issue where weapon swapping might not function correctly.
• Fixed an issue where switching to an inventory weapon while holding another weapon could momentarily display the newly equipped weapon’s drawing motion.
• Fixed an issue where attempting to equip a throwable weapon and then canceling could cause the previously held weapon to become invisible.
• Fixed an issue where canceling an equip interaction with a full inventory could cause the item to drop to the ground without notification or sound.
• Fixed an issue in Goblin Town A where a specific wall was passable, allowing players to move out of the map boundaries.
• Fixed an issue in Goblin Town A where items could spawn floating in the air at certain locations.
• Fixed an issue in Goblin Town A where players could get stuck between specific walls and rocks.
• Fixed an issue in the Ice Cavern Hive module where players could become trapped in certain terrains.
• Fixed an issue in the Ice Cavern Wolf Cave module where continuously pressing the forward key in specific sections could cause screen shaking.
• Fixed an issue in the High-Roller Icicle Cave module where some barrels were duplicated.
• Fixed an issue in the Icy Abyss Staircase Hill module where players could get stuck between torches and walls.
• Fixed an issue in the Ruins Stables module where Druids could use Rat Form to escape the map at certain spots.
• Fixed an issue in the Ruins Refectory module where Druids could use Rat Form to escape the map at certain spots.
• Fixed an issue in the Ruins Greathall A module where a locked iron door requiring a key was placed on the path to the Banshee boss room.
• Fixed an issue in the Ruins Pyramid module where a Silver Coin at a specific location was uncollectible.
• Fixed an issue in the Ruins Tower Bridge module where players could collide with invisible blocking volumes at certain spots.
• Fixed an issue in the Crypt Catacomb module where Druids could use Chicken Form to escape the map at certain spots.
• Fixed an issue in the Crypt High Priests module where monsters could not cross a specific door.
• Fixed an issue in the Crypt Wheel module where skeletons could not follow players up certain stairs.
• Fixed an issue in the Crypt Swamp module where some background props could flicker at certain spots.
• Fixed an issue in the Crypt Dungeons module where parts of certain prison walls protruded unnaturally.
• Fixed an issue in the Crypt Center Altar module where props were floating in the air at specific locations.
• Fixed an issue in the Crypt Broken Bridge module where props were floating in the air at specific locations.
• Fixed an issue in the Crypt Coffin Rooms module where ceiling structures were misaligned.
• Fixed an issue in the Crypt Cross Road module where dropping a necklace item could make it appear as if it had disappeared.
• Fixed an issue in the Crypt where certain random dungeon module combinations could trap players.
• Fixed an issue in the Inferno Blood Castle module where arrows could stick in midair or torches could float.
• Fixed an issue in the Inferno Demon Gate module where items could spawn in midair.
• Fixed an issue in the Inferno where portals could spawn in locations difficult for players to access.
• Fixed an issue where the fixed reward cloak in the Boss Treasure Room might not spawn.
• Fixed an issue where dropping items to the ground in dungeons could cause overlapping sound effects.
• Fixed an issue where the artifact ‘Illusory’ could activate its effect even if the spell cast failed.
• Fixed an issue where Lantern visual effects could remain on the ground.
• Fixed an issue where using the Oil Lantern could cause crashes in certain situations.
• Fixed an issue where improving fixed options on some equipment could alter the attributes of gear with completed Gem Socketing.
• Fixed an issue where improving fixed options on some equipment could cause discrepancies between the base options of crafting material items and crafted items.
• Fixed an issue where tooltip sizes could momentarily shift when checking item tooltips consecutively, even when the tooltips were the same size, due to information updates within the tooltip.
• Fixed an issue where spectating other parties was not possible even if you escaped successfully while another party remained.
• Fixed an issue where users without a rank—due to never entering a High-Roller dungeon—could have their rank icon displayed as Neophyte.
• Fixed an issue where a friend’s online status could appear incorrectly after reconnecting to the game.
• Fixed an issue where buttons behind the dungeon selection popup could still be clicked.
• Fixed an issue in the character creation screen where the hand position holding sword-type weapons could appear awkward.
• Fixed an issue where a friend’s name could appear as their character name instead of their account name.
• Fixed an issue where pressing the Caps Lock key while the Arena chat window was active could trigger the Arena scoreboard.
• Fixed an issue where, after being hit by Echo of Screams in Arena, the sound could become muffled in the next round.
• Fixed an issue where canceling Arena matchmaking and attempting to rematch could cause the game to crash and equipped SSF items to disappear.
• Fixed an issue where items looted after the final round text appeared in the Arena might not be accounted for in the summary.
• Fixed an issue where the High-Roller rank icon could appear in the Arena result screen.
• Fixed an issue where the crafted item ‘Cloak of Darkness’ from the Tailor could only roll two random stats instead of the intended amount.
• Fixed an issue where the Merchant’s text in the Quest Log could be stuck at the bottom due to the scroll bar being fixed there.
• Fixed an issue where the Zombie race’s -5% Debuff Duration Bonus could be applied in reverse.
• Fixed an issue where using the emote ‘The Carole’ while falling could cause the character’s position to be stuck midair.
• Fixed an issue where the smoke effect of the rest interaction ‘Skewered Food’ could be directed into the ground.
• Fixed an issue where character legs could appear distorted while using resting emotes.

General Updates:

• New PvE only ‘Adventure Mode’ has been added to the game!
• The risk/reward balance including loot drops, monster difficulties, and other settings for all the game modes have been adjusted to give varying risk to reward profiles.
• The Marketplace and Trading Post will be closed for the first two weeks of this season.
• Twitch Drops Campaign #2 is coming soon! Check our Discord announcements for details.
• 6 new shop items are now available for sale. Visit the shop to check them out!
• New Interactive Emote available as an EA5 Demigod exclusive reward.
• A new ‘Artifact’ grade has been added for in-game items.
• 2 new throwable items added: Poison Vial and Ghostdust Pouch
• 3 new craftable items added: Staff of Gluttony, Crystal Frost Ring, and Tome of Sheol
• 4 new Inferno Normal monsters added: Demon Imp, Ghoul, Demon Fly, and Hell Maggot
• 3 new Inferno Subbosses added: Cerberus, Dreadspine, and Abomination
• New monster patterns added for the Nightmare Ice Spider, Nightmare Harpy, Nightmare Cockatrice, Nightmare Frost Giant Shielder, Nightmare Yeti, Nightmare Giant Worm, and Nightmare Wendigo.
• Added a new High-Roller boss summoning system with new crafted items for the Lich, Warlord, Ghost King, and Frost Wyvern. More bosses to be added in future updates.
• Adjusted the health and damage of each boss monster.
• The ‘Illusory’ artifact now leaves afterimages periodically when casting spells.
• Improved certain monster movements using a new IK system.
• Improved the hit effects on monsters based on their materials.
• Environmental props have been optimized.
• New Ruins modules added.
• Adjusted the Ruins Dual Boss Room door proportions.
• Updated the textures in the Ice Cavern maps.
• The return of the Expressman. You can now deliver a separate batch of items between each floor.
• Added a high-value chest to the center of the Arena Bat Roost module.
• Sound effect added to the “Hold the Line” Emote.
• Items now have new ‘Tradable’ and ‘Permitted Area’ properties that restrict how certain items can be used.
• Account-Wide Merchant: Shop and crafting services are now shared across your account.
• Account-Wide Marketplace: Marketplace access is now shared across your account.
• New Cockatrice NPC added to the Merchant list. Complete quests to grow your Cockatrice.
• Increased the purchase limits for ‘Poor’ grade Hunting Traps, Francisca Axes, and Throwing Knives from 1 → 10 per purchase period.
• The crafting limit for most crafted items for each crafting period has been increased from 1 → 3.
• UI polish to the Squire: My Gear Sets button.
• Brightness options have been separated in the options for more precise control over the brightness of the menus.
• Russian font replaced for improved readability.
• Fonts updated to support French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German accents.
• General sound improvements.
• Items obtained with Reward Tokens are treated as Self Founded items.
• Reward Tokens should no longer give ‘Uncommon’ grade items.
• Reward Token now have a 0.1% chance to drop a Unique Grade item.
• Reward Token now have a 0.1% chance to drop a Gold Coin Chest.
• Reward Token now have a 4.9% chance to drop a Gold Coin Bag.
• Updated the Goblin Merchant so he now offers more items.
• Squire basic sets updated with Sorcerer and Druid equipment.
• Decreased the AP gained for going down a floor from 100 AP → 10 AP.
• Increased the penalty for dying from -0 AP → -10 AP.
• Crafting recipes for the Potion of Healing, Potion of Protection, Magic Protection Potion, and Potion of Clarity have been updated.

General Balance Updates:

• The Armor Rating curve has been modified to give slightly less PDR in the early part of the curve.
• Cooldown time reduction bonuses are limited to a maximum cap of 65%.

Class Balance Updates:

• Casting a spell with Time Distortion equipped now applies a -30% Action Speed debuff.
• Sorcerer’s Stone Skin duration changed from 10 seconds to 15 seconds, and its physical damage reduction bonus changed from 10% to 15%.

Item Balance Updates:

• Random modifiers have significantly modified.
• Weapon damage for most weapons have been updated.
• The weapon animation for the Club has been improved.
• The draw speed of the Crystal Sword has been slightly improved.
• The gear score of items have been readjusted. Helmets, gloves, and boots have had their gear score slightly increased. Weapons and crafted items have had their gear score normalized.