Ironmace Games CEO recently made an appearance on a livestream with popular streamers Sacriel and Onepeg. Various topics were discussed as a result, focusing on the upcoming Steam Next Fest Playtest, Early Access and more. Below you can find all the information given to us in our own Dark and Darker Q&A Recap.

Upcoming Dark and Darker Playtest

During the Dark and Darker Q&A we were treated to a wealth of information. A lot of the information was regarding the upcoming Steam Next Fest Playtest starting February 6th:

• The Next Fest demos major focus was on quality of life changes rather than gameplay or content during development time.
• Ironmace Games confirmed that we will not be experiencing B1 (Floor 1) and will remain playing on floor 2 and 3. However it was mentioned that floor 1 will possibly not start inside the dungeon
• Skill trees are not finished yet and will not be in the upcoming test
• VOIP has been officially confirmed to be in the Next Fest Playtest! VOIP should also work in stealth
• The Bard class will not feature in the test, Sorcerer was also mentioned but also not in the test
• Bulk buying and selling was more difficult to fix than anticipated. As a result there will be a temporary fix with the ability to buy stacks of items from a vendor
• Ruby Ore and crafting Ruby gear has been adjusted, requiring only half the previous tests materials -not enough players were accessing the gear
• High Roller was over-tuned in difficulty last test, as a result the incentives have been increased
• Various other quality of life adjustments and additions

Upcoming Experimental Content

The Ironmace Games CEO, Terry, announced to us live that we can expect to see a very experimental content addition to the next playtest. The official reveal of a new dungeon experience:

• A brand new dungeon that is entirely solo queue
• Ironmace doesn’t believe in true solo queue, and would prefer people to be in parties of 1-3 together and in High-roller dungeons matchmaking pools
• As a result, Ironmace wishes to use this as a teaser or entry point to the game for certain people
• The dungeon will be a one floor experience, with the recently revealed Cave Troll boss at the end portal
• The dungeon will only drop Epic gear as the highest possible drop rarity
• The Cave Troll was designed with melee players in mind, as the standard bosses are currently range favored

Early Access And The Future

As a result of being a Dark and Darker Q&A, the inevitable question was asked regarding Early Access, and Ironmace CEO Terry, answered:

• They considered adding more “content” to the upcoming playtest and even Early Access, however Steam Next Fest requires any participants to release a “demo” of their game
• The focus now is to implement quality of life to the upcoming playtest, and then build on it with content development up until Early Access launch
• Currently Early Access is realistically slated for end of April, very early May – still on track for a Q2 Early Access
• Ironmace are in the concept phase for B1 (Floor 1) and wish to have that ready before they confirm Early Access dates

Other Information

• Storage options will be changed and added later in development
• There will be an upcoming Party Finder, alongside the Party Finder there will be a reputation based system – Karma
• Karma will measure the amount of teamkilling you do and change your name based on it to red and you will be able to inspect other players, choose your friends wisely! (Currently not 100% confirmed whether this is in the Feb 6th test or not)
• Blocking system will be polished as currently it is too precise making it difficult to consistently block
• Wizard is on the balancing radar, too powerful however it is intended to have magic be powerful and multi-purpose
• Cleric received +1 agility
• Ironmace Games wish to test more cosmetics as last test was mostly a placeholder
• Various joke based information such as the War Maul being a joke weapon and will not be changed

That will do it for now on the Dark and Darker Q&A Recap! We expect another fantastic round of testing and we hope to see you all there! Thanks to Ironmace Games for providing the community this information.

Looking to prepare for your first Dark and Darker adventure? Look no further! Check out our class guides such as the Wizard.