Greetings, Adventurers.
We’d like to inform you of the latest changes applied in this update.

IRONMACE

• Fixed an issue with the movespeed on the Void Blade.

Greetings, Adventurers.

We’d like to inform you of the latest changes applied in this update.

IRONMACE

• Fixed an issue with the Arena matchmaking.

• Fixed an issue with the Wraith's dash attack.

Hi Adventurers,

This emergency hotfix brings several bug fixes and performance improvements including a fix for framerate drop when opening the inventory. Thank you and see you in the dungeons!

IRONMACE

• Fixed an issue where the loading could fail when going down a floor.

• Fixed an issue where items obtained in dungeons could disappear.

• Fixed an issue where opening the inventory could cause a sudden drop in frame rate.

• Fixed an issue where casting Warlock’s Evil Eye could cause camera to initially face backwards.

• Fixed an issue where the portcullis would close after escaping from the Goblin Cave.

• Fixed an issue where, when entering The Frost Mountain - Ice Abyss (High-Roller) dungeon as a trio, only two escape portals could appear in the final circle.

• Fixed an issue where binding the second key of the Lobby Emote Wheel could cause the game to crash.

• Fixed an issue where the 'Feat' section in the Achievement list could appear empty.

Hi Adventurers,

Welcome to EA Season #6.9, a super condensed four week mini-season to make the remaining time leading up to the actual major season update more interesting. Please note that this update is just to spice things up and not meant to introduce major new content. The real new content will be showcased with EA Season #7 launching on September 23, 2025.

EA #6.9 includes the following changes.

• SSF mode for the first two weeks of the mini season. The marketplace and trading post opens on September 9, 2025. We have drastically reduced the cost to unlock additional stashes to accommodate this change.

• All character levels, items, stashes, inventory, reward tokens, karma, quests, and affinity have been reset.

• Quest difficulty and content has been tuned slightly to adapt to the condensed season. The rewards for several quests have also been updated including the final quests giving ‘Artifact’ gear as a reward.

• A new Adventure Rank mini season with new rewards will commence immediately.

• A new religion mini season with new rewards will commence immediately.

• A new Arena mini season with a new map pool will run every weekend until the end of the mini season. Equipment will be limited to ‘Rare’ grade gear for this mini season to encourage maximum participation.

• Triumph levels have been reset, allowing you to earn additional Bluestone shards until the start of the next season.

• Seasonal Pack DLC bonuses will remain active until the start of the next season.

• A small ‘Welcome Delivery’ pack will be given to all players who log in for this Semi-Semi-Wipe that gives an array of starting items to help with your adventures. Please collect your ‘Welcome Delivery’ pack from the Expressman’s ‘Post Express’ service tab.

EA Season #6.9 also brings an update to the matching pools. We are now fully committed to supporting Solos, Duos, and Trios matching pools. Although we’d love to give all party sizes the full freedom to select any dungeon, we realize that this is difficult with the current population.

We have introduced a ‘Random Maps’ system for the High-Roller dungeons to concentrate players for that mode. This change allows us to enable Solos, Duos, Trios for all maps for across the ‘Normal’ dungeons, giving more freedom to a very large portion of our player base. The ‘Random Maps’ system also allows us to better control the flow of players for the ‘High-Roller’ Dungeons, giving us better tools to combat teaming and stream sniping.

We understand that this makes pre-planning for an HR adventure more difficult, especially when it comes to quests and using special keys. We have tuned the random dungeon system to utilize a more hybrid approach where certain modules will always appear or appear using much higher weights to make things more predictable when it comes to quests. We have also reworked the special key system so they drop much more frequently and must be used within that session instead of being carried out to be used as a store of value.

Finally, we have tuned several of the main attribute formulas such as health, action speed, and spell casting speed. We are still testing the extremes of the balance we’ve established from the first Semi-wipe and will continue to use this mini season to collect additional data. We thank you for your patience and support and see you in the dungeons!

IRONMACE

• Fixed an issue where the Sorcerer’s Mud Shield sphere appeared smaller than intended.

• Fixed an issue where weapons could become invisible when equipped while under the effect of a skill or potion that grants invisibility.

• Fixed an issue where some walls could flicker in the Mimic Lair module of The Ruins of Forgotten Castle.

• Fixed an issue where Chests that were actually mimics in the Bandit Camp module of The Ruins of Forgotten Castle would sometimes fail to properly attack.

• Fixed an issue in the Graveyard module of The Ruins of Forgotten Castle where monsters could not enter certain areas.

• Fixed an issue where Druids in rat form could fall into a specific hole in the Staircase Hill module of the Ice Abyss.

• Fixed an issue where attacking some training dummies in the dungeons would result in the attack being blocked.

• Fixed an issue where Silver Coins could sometimes not be picked up.

• Fixed an issue where item names that were too long would be displayed as “…” in the chat window.

• Fixed an issue where an 'Uncommon' grade cloak could be incorrectly given as a quest reward.

• Fixed an issue where the ‘claim rewards’ button from the previous season could disappear.

• EA6.9 Season has begun! All character levels, items, stashes, inventory, reward tokens, karma, quests, and affinity have been reset.

• Receive a special ‘‘Welcome Delivery’’ pack from the Expressman when you login.

• SSF mode will be in action for the first two weeks of the mini season. The marketplace and trading post opens on September 9, 2025. We have drastically reduced the cost to unlock additional stashes to accommodate this change.

• The ‘Normal Dungeons’ have been changed so Solos/Duos/Trios can now select from all map locales.

• The ‘High-Roller Dungeons’ have been changed to a random dungeon pool.

• Special Keys (Mystical Gem, Frozen Iron Key, Golden Key, Old Rusty Key, Skull Key) can only be used inside dungeons during the session they are found. Special Keys will disappear upon escape or death.

• The drop rate for special keys have been significantly improved and will now drop from specific sub-boss and boss monsters.

• Special locked rooms have been added to both Adventure Mode and Normal Mode.

• The Arena map pool has been updated with new maps.

• Quest requirements and difficulty has been adjusted to match the shorter season.

• Weekly Sales for cosmetic items will be available during the shortened season.

• The display time for the recent chat window has been increased from 10 seconds → 15 seconds.

• Improved LOD for the 'Low' graphics settings.

• A new feature has been added that automatically displays the remaining maintenance time as a system message when maintenance begins.

General

• Name tags for allies are now displayed in all dungeons and game modes.

• The spell casting speed curve has been adjusted to become much flatter at the mid to upper end of the curve.

• The action speed curve has been adjusted to give slightly more action speed in the beginning and give less in the mid to upper end of the curve.

• The maximum Health curve has been adjusted to give less HP per VIG/STR at the mid to upper end of the curve.

• The maximum Health curve has been further adjusted to provide a static +15 Health across all sections.

• The Barbarian’s default Vigor has been changed from 25 to 20.

Items

• Random modifiers have been updated to include a larger variety of possible stats.

• All primary modifiers for gear have been reduced by 1 starting from the ‘Uncommon’ grade. For example, ‘Uncommon’ grade Cloth Pants used to give +4 dexterity but now give +3 dexterity.

• Primitive attributes can no longer be enchanted via socketing gems. Since this means the ‘Diamond’ gem is no longer useful for socketing, players can exchange their diamond gems to the ‘Treasurer’ for an equivalent grade gem of their choice.

• 'Unique' grade gems have been re-added to the loot pool.

• The Rapier’s base damage has been increased by 1.

• The Void Blade has been updated to add +2 True Magical Damage.

• The Felling Axe’s weapon animation speed has been slightly reduced.

• The Plate Boots primary modifier has been changed from Strength to Vigor.

Fighter

• The duration of Taunt has been reduced from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.

Druid

• The damage of the Bear’s Swipe attack has been reduced from 32 to 29.

• The damage of Bear’s Bash attack has been reduced from 46 to 43.

• The animation has been slowed down, a 2-hit sequence has been added, and the recovery delay has been increased for the Panther’s scratch attack.

• The damage of Panther’s Scratch attack has been increased from 16 to 21.

• The damage of Panther Neckbite attack has been increased from 18 to 23.

• The cooldown of Shapeshift stack has been increased from 9 seconds to 10 seconds.

Sorcerer

• The duration of Mud Shield has been increased from 4 seconds to 6 seconds.

• The duration of Wall of Fire has been reduced from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.

• The magical damage bonus per stack of Mana Flow has been changed from 10% to 5%.

• Time Distortion has been updated as follows:

  • Applies a Magic Damage Bonus of –25%.

  • Move Speed Modifier has been changed from –1% to –3%.

  • It now removes only a single stack instead of clearing all stacks.

• Lightning Bolt attribute bonus ratio has been changed from 1.0 to 0.5.

Hi Adventurers,

This minor update brings the 2nd anniversary event for the Early Access release. The ‘Skeleton’ has returned to the tavern to drop some tasty new quests for this event. We’ve also added some minor optimization and bugfixes to improve your experience.

We know that the next season will be critical for the longevity of the game and therefore we made the difficult decision to delay the next season rather than push out a rushed update.

We are sorry to announce that the next season will need to be delayed one month to September 23. Unfortunately, the reality is that our two main features for the next season, a brand new water-themed dungeon and the social Gathering Hall system, still need more work. Although we’ve been making good progress with both features, we need more time to get them to an acceptable quality for the upcoming ‘make or break' season.

We are very sorry for this delay and realize that this may take some wind out of the current player-base. As a mea-culpa and amends, we’ve worked on an urgent plan to make the remaining time leading up to the next season a little more interesting and meaningful. On August 26, we will be doing a ‘Semi-Semi-Wipe’ which will commence a super condensed mini-season known as ‘EA Season 6.9'. It will basically function as a season without the addition of a season defining feature. Instead the ‘Semi-Semi-Wipe’ will include the following.

• SSF mode for the first two weeks of the mini season. The marketplace and trading post will only become available for the last 2 weeks of the mini season.

• All character levels, items, inventory, quests, and affinity will be reset.

• A new condensed Adventure Rank season with rewards.

• A new Arena season with new maps in the Arena map pool.

• A new religion season with rewards.

We thank you for your understanding as we work our butts off to turn the tide and bring you a good foundational update for the September 23rd launch. Thank you and see you in the dungeons.

IRONMACE

• 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.

Item

• Weapon damage of all daggers has been increased by +1.

Barbarian

• Morale Boost healing reduced from 33% to 25%.

• Berserker maximum move speed bonus reduced from 10% to 5%.

Druid

• Action speed while in Bear form reduced from -30% to -40%.

• Shapeshift cooldown per stack increased from 6 seconds to 9 seconds.

• Bear's Swipe attack hit timing adjusted to occur on swing instead of during wind-up.

Hi, Adventurers!

In this update, we’ve introduced a new Game News system to make it easier for you to stay informed about the latest announcements.

Many systems that have undergone frequent changes are now mostly settled, and aside from minor balance adjustments, there will be no major shifts going forward. For the rest of this season, we’ll continue monitoring data and listening to your feedback to maintain balanced gameplay and overall stability based on these finalized systems. At the same time, we’re working hard to prepare for the next wipe.

Thank you for playing, and we’ll see you in the dungeon!

IRONMACE

• Fixed an issue where, upon entering Frost Mountain as a High-Roller, the Dark Swarm, session timer, and escape methods could fail to work properly.

• Fixed an issue where certain artifacts were mistakenly placed as background decorations, potentially causing confusion during gameplay.

• Fixed an issue where players could avoid damage when standing too close to a Giant Spider during its attack.

• Fixed an issue where equipping the Gauntlets could occasionally cause finger models to appear distorted during gameplay.

• Fixed an issue where name tags might not appear when entering a dungeon through Random Matchmaking.

• Added the In-Game News feature. Patch notes and announcements will now be delivered through the In-Game News system instead of front-page pop-ups.

• Changed the icon size of the Sash from 2x2 to 1x2.

• Slightly increased the socket damage multiplier for some one-handed weapons (Arming Sword, Falchion, Viking Sword, Hatchet, Horseman’s Axe, War Hammer).

• Slightly decreased the socket damage multiplier for some two-handed weapons (Bardiche, Halberd, War Maul, Spear).

• Fighter’s Counterattack movement speed bonus changed from 5% to 10%.

• Ranger’s Spear Proficiency no longer grants a physical power.

• Bard’s Harmonic Shield's armor rating and magic resistance bonus increased from 15 to 25.

Hi Adventurers,

This hotfix updates the PvP matchmaking queues and fixes a set party size to each dungeon. We have made the hard decision to trade some choice of dungeons to reinstate a purer solo and duo experience while still maintaining a consolidated number of matching pools.

• The Goblin Caves are now designated as the ‘Solos’ dungeon for ‘Normal’ and ‘HR’ modes. Parties are no longer supported in these modes.

• The Frost Mountain is designated as the ‘Duos’ dungeon for ‘Normal’ and ‘HR’ modes. The maximum party size is limited to 2 members in these modes.

• The Forgotten Castle is designated as the ‘Trios’ dungeon for ‘Normal’ and ‘HR’ modes. The maximum party size is limited to 3 members in these modes.

Please note that all three locales are set as ‘Trios’ for ‘Adventure’ mode and can support party sizes up to 3 members in this mode.

We have also reintroduced the random matchmaking option to better support this update. In addition, this update also includes a change to give non-premade parties a better chance against their premade brethren. Parties created through the random matchmaking or through the in-game party system will have a small advantage of being able to see their teammate’s nameplates within the PvP dungeons. Our plan is to continue exploring advantages and incentives for solo and duo players that are willing to take on the extra risks of entering the larger party dungeons in the future.

Going forward, our plan is to balance the dungeon locales to better fit their designated modes. For instance, this hotfix we’ve lowered the amount of loot that can be obtained from the Goblin Cave hoards to better match solo adventures. We will continue to make dungeon specific balance changes based on player behavior. We also hope that the additional incentives we roll out for solo and duo players in the future won’t just constraint them to their own dungeons.

This hotfix also marks the return of the Dark Swarm to the ‘High-Roller’ dungeons. Our original goal at the start of the semi-wipe was to see if it was possible to create a mixed queue dungeon experience that gave solos, duos, and trios an even chance in one pool. We removed the Dark Swarm at that time because it put undue pressure on solo and duo players as it forced more uneven PvP encounters. With the return of exclusive solo and duo pools, we no longer need discourage PvP and can return to giving the High-Roller mode its more unique hardcore identity.

We have also modified the impact power of weapons and their ability to destroy doors. Our original intention by giving more classes the ability break doors with their weapons was to improve the ability to run away. What we saw in-game actually ran counter to our intention and ended up giving an advantage to the pursuer. We still like the ability to break doors as it removes the stalemate of ‘Door and Doorer' when parties actually want to engage each other. We have now re-balanced most of the weapons' and door’s impact power to allow player to make a tactical decision to remove a door instead of just one-shotting it (which is still possible but requires the ‘Crush’ skill.)

We thank you for your patience and we’ll see you in the dungeons!

IRONMACE

• Fixed an issue where character levels and inventory items might have reset for some players.

• Fixed an issue where the attacks of Skeleton Champion and Skeleton Spearman might not be blocked properly.

• Fixed an issue where the Spear, Bardiche, Wizard Staff, Ceremonial Staff, and Quarterstaff could block an area wider than their intended weapon width.

• Fixed an issue where a Nightmare Skeleton Footman could spawn in the Ruins: Bandit Forest, even for 'Normal' and 'Adventure' modes.

• Fixed an issue in the Ruins: Tower Bridge where certain spots on the upper wall might not be affected by the Murder of Crows.

• Fixed an issue where the "+1 Weapon Damage" bonus might not apply to off-hand weapons when using the Frost Skeleton or Nightmare Mummy Race.

• Fixed an issue where both players could be shown as party leaders if they invited each other to a party at the same time.

• The sale period for the DLC: Seasonal Pack has been extended until August 7.

• Maximum Party size is now determined based on the dungeon.

  • Goblin Cave - Solos

  • The Frost Mountain - Duos

  • The Ruins of Forgotten Castle - Trios

  • The party type remains ‘Trios' for all locales in 'Adventure’ mode.

• Enabled random matchmaking.

• Disabled In-Game Party for Solos dungeons. (Once the party reaches the maximum number allowed by the mode, no more party members can be added.)

• Reintroduced Dark Swarm and Random Portal to High-Roller mode, and disabled some fixed extraction points.

• Name tags are displayed for party members when using the In-Game Party or Random Matchmaking system.

• Increased the number of recent chat messages shown in the HUD from 3 to 5, and extended the display time from 5 to 10 seconds.

• Changed the default price of the Sash from 50 to 12 gold.

• Improved an issue where the Ghost King's attacks dealt the same amount of damage regardless of distance.

• Increased the Max Impact Endurance of wooden doors.

• Improved the armor curve by +4.2% to slightly improve the durability of all armors.

• The hilt of the Longsword is no longer usable for blocking or riposting.

• The main attribute of the Frost Amulet and Phoenix Choker has been reduced by 1 across all rarities.

• Decreased the Impact Resistance of the Spear, Bardiche, Quarterstaff, Flute, and Longsword.

• Longsword weapon damage decreased by 2.

• Void Blade magic weapon damage changed from 4 to 2.

Hi Adventurers,

This hotfix continues our quest to tune and rebuild the structure of the game one by one. After reviewing the reintroduction of the random modifiers, we realized we still have room to adjust them without breaking the system. To get us closer to our desired loot satisfaction level, we have now improved the random modifiers for accessory items.

With our increased confidence in the current item direction, we have started to address other components of the game structure, starting with the game modes. For context, we had originally removed the solo and duo pools to consolidate the player population in an earnest effort to make a mixed-party mode more viable and to remove some persistent issues that came with those modes. Although we started to see some potential with our current changes, especially with more interesting social dynamics, we started to realize that this path may not offer a satisfying solution for current solo player expectations.

We believe that the best path forward is to incorporate our new learnings and improved balance to support different experiences for players that are solo vs. having a party. We will be experimenting with the best ways to make this happen while avoiding the many pitfalls our previous simplistic solo/duo/trio system introduced. With this in mind, we are re-introducing a solo queue for the current dungeons. Our goal is to give the solo queue dungeons a more unique identity going forward and for this first implementation we will be leaving the in-game party system enabled to encourage various social play. We thank you for your patience and understanding as we rebuild the dungeons.

IRONMACE

• Fixed an issue where using Warlock’s Evil Eye could allow movement outside the map from the Down Room waiting area.

• Fixed an issue where the shield VFX might not move together when the Ghost King used its jump pattern.

• Fixed an issue where a plant in the Stables module could improperly block hits.

• Fixed an issue where entering a long message in the in-game chat could result in only part of the message being displayed in the notification window.

• Fixed an issue where deleted chat messages could reappear when switching to another character after clearing all chat history.

• Fixed an issue where item link popups might not appear when hovering the mouse over the link in chat.

• Fixed an issue where the highlight effect might not apply when selecting Arena in the map selection UI.

• Fixed an issue where the chat HUD preview might not appear when entering text in the Arena.

• Fixed an issue where Magic Penetration and Cooldown Reduction Bonus might not be displayed in the Goldsmith Enchant list.

• Changed in-game queue modes to Solo/Trio.

• Improved scroll visibility in the Karma UI.

General

• Random modifier values have been increased or newly added within a range that does not compromise combat balance. No further changes are expected unless any major issues arise.

• The damage ratios for each hitbox area have been adjusted.

  • Arm: 90% → 80%

  • Hand: 90% → 70%

  • Leg: 85% → 60%

  • Foot: 85% → 50%

• Headshot damage reduction for Lizardman and Lycan has been changed from 10% to 15%.

Item

• Movement speed for feet equipment has been adjusted.

• Armor rating for plate armor has been slightly increased.

Class

• Warlock’s Phantomize movement speed bonus changed from 10% to 5%.

Hi Adventurers,

This hotfix slightly improves the durability of characters as the previous ‘hits to kill’ (HTK) was a little quicker than we desired. Due to our improved confidence in the current HTK range, we’ve also decided to bring back the random modifier system to help improve the feel and diversity of looting. Please note that the values for the new random modifiers have been adjusted to try and maintain the new HTK sweet spot. We acknowledge that the reintroduction of the random modifiers increases the item gap range, and we will be monitoring the dungeons so we can adjust them as necessary in the future.

We are also happy to announce with the assistance and coordination from Chaf Games, we have now resolved the contractual and technical hurdles allowing us to migrate remaining customers who were unable to previously transfer their accounts. You can now proceed with the migration process by following the migration guide sent by email by Chaf Games on July 7, 2025.

Thank you and see you in the dungeons!

IRONMACE

• Fixed an issue where the VFX of the Sorcerer's Mud Shield could display incorrectly.

• Fixed an issue where blocking an unarmed attack from another player with the wooden part of a spear might not produce a sound.

• Fixed an issue where the stats for Frostlight Lightfoot Boots and Frostlight Riveted Gloves could be displayed with incorrect values.

• Fixed an error in the stats of Gravewolf gloves, Cobalt hat, and Frostlight wizard hat.

• Fixed an issue where the sound effect of the Cursed Bandage could be heard as a metallic sound.

• Fixed an issue where the ceiling of the Pit module might not be visible.

• Fixed an issue where players might not be able to ascend directly on an uphill path in the Mountain Pass module.

• Fixed an issue where only up to 2 party members could be displayed in the lobby, even when more than 3 had been in the same party during a session.

• Fixed an issue where Worship Seals (Weekly/Seasonal) could be displayed in reverse.

• Fixed an issue where the Ruins Golem's attacks might not be properly blocked.

• Chaf Games Migration Restarted. For details, please visit the official website: https://darkanddarker.com/support/search/39082397522964

• Resumed Gem Socketing for the Goldsmith.

• Added the Clear All Chats feature.

• Added the Toggle Party Chat On/Off feature.

• The last 3 chat messages now appear on the in-game HUD.

• Item Quick-link feature added. You can use it instantly by clicking the mouse wheel button.

  • Supports key binding for convenience.

• Arena Test 5 Rank starts from 07/11 00:00(UTC).

  • Arena MMR Reset.

  • Items and utility gear are no longer lost upon defeat in the Arena when using only Self-Found and Self-Crafted equipment.

  • Allowed item grade upon entry is up to Legendary.

General

• Some monster balance adjustments.

• Reverted MaxHealth graph to increase health scaling from Vigor and Strength.

• Damage ratios for hitboxes have been adjusted.

  • Body: 125% → 100%

  • Arm: 100% → 90%

  • Hand: 100% → 90%

  • Leg: 75% → 80%

  • Foot: 75% → 80%

Items

• Random modifiers are added to equipment based on rarity.

• Occultist Hood has been changed to the dual stats that includes Magical Power, and Magical Healing.

• Falchion weapon damage increased by 1.

• Longsword riposte attack damage ratio changed from 125% to 150%.

• Flute riposte attack damage ratio changed from 110% to 150%.

• Zweihander weapon damage increased by 1, its scaling formula was adjusted, and secondary attack damage ratio changed from 115% to 130%.

• War Maul weapon damage decreased by 2.

• Felling Axe weapon damage increased by 2, scaling formula was adjusted, and animation speed increased.

• Battle Axe weapon damage increased by 1.

• Double Axe weapon damage decreased by 1.

• Bardiche weapon damage decreased by 3, and its scaling formula was adjusted.

• Halberd weapon damage decreased by 2, and scaling formula was adjusted.

• Longbow weapon damage decreased by 2.

• Longbow armor penetration reduced by 5%.

• Recurve Bow weapon damage decreased by 4.

• Survival Bow weapon damage decreased by 2.

• Crossbow weapon damage decreased by 3.

• Windlass Crossbow weapon damage decreased by 4, and armor penetration changed from 35% to 40%.

• Francisca Axe weapon damage increased by 1, and it now increases by 2 for each rarity.

• Throwing Knife weapon damage increased by 1, and it now increases by 2 for each rarity.