Build #17314 – RADIANT UPDATE

Overview:

This update was built around two major pillars:

Radiant Mode: Radiant Mode is a version of the game that is intended to take less time overall to complete than normal (“Darkest”) mode. The mode is still challenging–monsters have the same stats and nothing about permadeath has changed. But some gameplay rules have been flexed or altered in ways that reduce some of the more time consuming mid and late game elements. Improvements and Additions (to all modes): we’ve reviewed tons of feedback over the last few months and have added a bunch new features, content, revisions, and fixes.

We will be monitoring how the rollout of Radiant goes, and you can expect some more tweaks here and there as we see how the patch settles.

To access the beta, open up the BETAs tab on the Darkest Dungeon Properties menu on STEAM. Select the drop down box and choose “coming_in_hot.” As always we encourage you to backup your saves when participating in the BETA!

Thanks to your support, as we move forward toward the launch of our first major expansion, The Crimson Court, we’ll continue to update and improve the core game. Currently, we’re looking at a balance pass on trinkets and hero skills, so you can expect some changes in those areas in the coming weeks. As always, we appreciate your feedback, suggestions, and enthusiasm!

-The Darkest Dungeon Team

RADIANT MODE:

Never Again changed: heroes are now allowed to return to the Darkest Dungeon. However, they will undergo significant stress upon doing so, and are more likely to become afflicted instead of virtuous when in the Darkest Dungeon.

More Power Leveling flexibility: Heroes of up to Level 4 may enter Novice dungeons. Any hero may enter a Veteran or Champion dungeon.

Stage Coach can now be upgraded to allow the appearance of new recruits starting at up to Level 4. Increased chance of upgraded recruits appearing. Reduced cost of Upgraded Recruits upgrades.

Accelerated hero XP progression

Hero upgrade and treatment cost scaling by level reduced

Random Hunger Checks do not occur in Radiant Mode Food Provision cost increased and stack sized decreased to compensate

Returned provisions now give slightly more money back

Tweaks to Stage Coach: Added another upgrade tier to Experienced Recruits (Lvl 4 Characters will now appear) Changed Experienced Recruit requirements. (Lvl1 now requires Lvl 1 Blacksmith and Guild) New Stage Coach population option to use a Deck based system. (This can be used on all modes ). New Stagecoach generation method that gives a more even long-term distribution and also favors healers more, since they are the backbone of most parties. This can be toggled off in the Options menu if you wish to still ride the bittersweet wave of total RNG.

Higher Light conditions confer slightly more to party DEF bonuses.

Accelerated Region Progression

Town Events trigger more frequently to compensate for shorter playtime

STYGIAN MODE:

Renamed NG+ to Stygian

Stygian can now be selected when starting a new campaign, instead of requiring completion of Darkest mode first.

More stress, higher darkness penalties, more light loss per step, higher trap diff, enemy HP bump from 15% (prev) to 20%, slightly higher monster crits…overall slightly more deadly

Time limit reduced to 86 weeks and hero death limit dropped to 12

You can now continue playing after the time limit on your Stygian mode game after successfully completing the game

ALL MODES:

Added 4 new monsters (Bone Bearer, Hateful Virago, Swine Skiver, and Squiffy Ghast) that appear in Champion level Dungeons – welcome aboard, Dana!

Caw! Caw! Added New Trinket Recovery Quest When a party wipe occurs, trinkets are no longer lost! There is a way to recover them. Exactly what that way is, we leave for you to discover… Trinkets are no longer recoverable from fallen characters after retreating.

Two new Town Events

Fix for users reporting increased cpu usage