Welcome to the first Steadfast Steward’s experimental build! In order to test out our first set of changes, head over to our public beta branch on Steam.

As always, we recommend making a backup of your save file before switching branches!

Save files are found here: C://Users/Username/AppData/LocalLow/RedHook/Darkest Dungeon II/

How to access the coming_in_hot public beta branch on Steam:

• Right click on Darkest Dungeon II in your Steam library
  
• Click Properties
  
• Click Betas
  
• Choose ‘Coming_in_hot - experimental builds’ from the Beta Participation dropdown menu.

For those who are curious, this release is focused on quality of life improvements! We plan to tidy up a number of different areas in the game, mainly in the Confessions game mode. Please note that we are not adding new content such as regions, or new enemies and heroes, and we are not doing major feature rehauls. If you are curious about the areas we are looking to address, check out this blog post[www.darkestdungeon.com]. We’re looking forward to collaborating with you on this release.

How to send us feedback
The best way to do this is by joining the Darkest Dungeon Discord.[discord.gg]

We have a specific section dedicated to the Steadfast Steward’s update with different channels for hero reworks, tooltips, and more.

You can also email your thoughts to [email protected] if you’d prefer to send feedback that way.

Finally, if you would prefer to leave your thoughts here on Steam, we'll be opening a thread on the Steam forums for each of our weekly builds. This week's thread can be found here: https://steamproxy.com/app/1940340/discussions/0/603031621173579337/

You may notice that these patch notes are more detailed than usual. We have included a number of ‘Developer Notes’ beside many of the entries here, to better express the intent behind the changes. By outlining our goals we hope that this will help measure if our intent is matching our implementation.

Read on to learn about all the changes present in today’s public beta build.

• Academic View now displays when skills ignore tokens, when the skill requires certain conditions,speed, and stress resistance. Hero skill cooldowns, skill uses, and conditions are now displayed here too.
  
  • Dev Note: We’ve opted to start with dynamic information then plan to update specific enemy info where it makes sense such as bosses and unique enemies. Academic View should provide a rough/generalized outline of what an enemy can do and from where, but should remain accurate without adding confusion.There are many enemies in the game, there will likely be missing or incorrect strings, please let us know if/when you come across any bugs.
• Tooltip formatting adjustments
  
  • Dev Note: Formatting has been updated to be more readable. Operator symbols have been removed and condition order has been moved around. ex) If Flame < 50: EFFECT will now read as EFFECT when Flame is under 50
• Token glossary improvements. Certain tokens will now appear depending on the context such as hero shrines, special encounters, regions, and kingdom modules. Several tokens have been recolored and recategorized for consistency. Stealth token icons are gold and can be stolen/copied
  
  • Dev Note: Stealth tokens have always had the positive token tag, now they will present and interact consistently with other positive tokens
• Tokens now have duration that display in tooltips the same as DOT durations
  
• DOT duration tooltip color now matches DOT color
  
• Heal skills tag now displayed on skills similar to how Melee and Ranged skills are displayed
  
• Combat item tooltips now display if it's targeting a friendly target or enemy target
  
• Ranked locked tokens now have an icon below them in combat and are called out as rank locked in their descriptions
  
• Health bars now have quarter lines
  
  • Dev Note: This is something we’re testing out to help provide additional clarity for health threshold requirements. The visual treatment and presentation is subject to change.
• Hero tooltips no longer change width or move position when displaying upgraded info
  
• Trinkets that deal damage through an effect in combat will display the name in the poptext beside the damage value
  
  • Dev Note: This was primarily added to help alleviate confusion when enemies would die from Reverberating Redoubt
• Inventory and Vitrine can now be accessed at the Crossroads respectively with I/Z on keyboard or LT/RT on gamepad
  
• Inn effects now displayed in Inn sign tooltip
  
• Retreat effects now displayed in the retreat button tooltip
  
• Changed the default font size on PC/MAC to be slightly smaller. Added Larger Font Size option to gameplay menu and will use that as the default on Steam Deck and other consoles.

• CRITs no longer increase the duration of DOTs by +2 rounds for both enemies and heroes.
  
  • Dev Note: We want to experiment DOTs power level as well as opening up new avenues to grant these kinds of effects from different sources. By removing the generic +round duration on all crits we can diversify with more ease. Other benefits of CRITs still remain such as the 20% RES piercing.
• Increased chances to encounter Crypt Keeper in the Catacombs
  
• Default inn quirk chance reduced from 80% to 50% and Vestal's Secret guarantees 1 quirk instead of 2
  
  • Dev Note: We’ve heard feedback that in Confessions quirks are replaced at inns too frequently. This is an experimental change to see how it feels, there’s a chance these values will be reverted if they aren’t well received
• Ancestor’s Statue trinkets have been changed from Indelible to Ancestral
  
• Now after killing the Chirurgeon, Patients can be found in Gaunt road battles for 3 regions
  
  • Dev Note: This change is intended to add moments of player reactivity where the game reacts based on choices and influences from the player. We’re planning to update Military barricades and Warlord encounters to do something similar.
• Single Leech is no longer dropped by the Chirurgeon and now has a 5% chance to drop from any Patient.
  
• Elite battle advantage no longer has +1 speed
  
• Hastened battle advantage reduced from +4 to +2.
  
• Only hero trinket and hero signature inn item hero goals will generate when Altar of Hope is completed. Hero trinkets are now pre-rolled for hero goals.
  
• Wheel and Armor now have scaling effects based off the number of Wheels or Armor rather than only effects when full
  
• True Entropy: Now has a chance to apply Stealth
  
• Champion enemies now have Champion tag displayed
  
• Added Altar of Hope location; The Dam.
  
  • Dev Note: This is a run mutator area that offers a toggle to enable retreating in Confessions, selling at the Hoarder in Confessions, and having the Mountain appear at all inns. There are plans to add additional options when/where appropriate. The name is also WIP. We want to allow retreat to be an option in Confession, but we want to retain the intention of making the most out of bad situations. The successful retreat effects in confessions are as follows; +3 Loathing and -1 Stress for each hero. All values are subject to feedback and adjustment, the starting values are intentionally high to ensure the impact is felt.
• Shambler's Eye: Replaced On Crit: Binding Shadows: Gain Unchecked Power to Gain on Kill: Unchecked Power
  
  • Dev Note: This is a temporary change until his trinkets are properly updated. All reworked heroes will have their trinkets updated

• General string fixes
  
• General animation fixes
  
• Fixed camp travelogue incorrectly displaying quirk source as from inn
  
• Fixed an issue where Strange Axis did not invert CRIT tokens
  
• Fixed an issue with more skills showing up in the Affected Skills list on some Path seals than intended

Wanderer

• Dev Note: The Occultist's core kit has been adjusted to strengthen certain identities while maintaining or improving his nature as a mixed support/offensive Hero with extremely flexible positioning. Additionally, the "Big 3" Unchecked Power skills have generally had much of their raw power moved into their base (more costly) versions with the primary goal of mastery value being reduced activation cost and incremental improvements or additional effects, such as the Shuffle on Anamnesis+ or Block Ignore on The Burning Stars+.
  
• Unchecked Power Burn chance increased from 33% per token to a flat 100%
  
• Unchecked Power Burn value now scales with token count from 1-3
  
• Unchecked Power Burn duration has been reduced from 3 turns to 2
  
• Unchecked Power Burn effect can now be resisted
  
  • Dev Note: We wanted to make Unchecked Power's penalty something you could engage with while also making its penalty a bit punchier to better accomplish the sense of this power chipping away at his health. There are now options to build around resistance or around effects that respond to the presence of Burn DOTs with greater reliability.
• Abyssal Artillery+ no longer consumes Unchecked Power to apply Stun
  
• Abyssal Artillery+ now grants Unchecked Power on CRIT, per target CRIT
  
  • Dev Note: We wanted to provide an additional, but not entirely reliable, way to generate Unchecked Power. Area of Effect skills provide multiple opportunities to score CRITs, increasing the odds of a lucky Unchecked Power generation.
• Binding Shadows and Binding Shadows+ no longer reduce Debuff RES vs. Combo
  
• Binding Shadows and Binding Shadows+ now ignore Stealth
  
• Binding Shadows DMG increased from 3-6 to 4-6
  
• Binding Shadows chance to gain Unchecked Power is increased to 100% when the Occultist has Stealth
  
• Binding Shadows now grants 1 Stealth when hitting a target with Combo
  
• Binding Shadows+ DMG increased from 4-8 to 5-8
  
• Binding Shadows+ chance to gain Unchecked Power is increased to 100% when the Occultist has Stealth
  
• Binding Shadows+ now grants 2 Stealth when hitting a target with Combo
  
  • Dev Note: Binding Shadows has been reworked to provide a more unique identity, improve reliability of Unchecked Power generation, and introduce some Stealth and Stealth-interaction into the Occultist's kit.
• Daemon's Pull no longer clears corpses
  
• Daemon's Pull now has the same Unchecked Power Stun as the mastered version
  
  • Dev Note: Daemon's Pull was widely considered too good in its unmastered state, so the Corpse Clear effect is now only present when mastered. Additionally, in order to keep its potential consumption of Unchecked Power a consistent point of consideration across the skill, the Stun has been added to the unmastered version.
• Sacrificial Stab DMG increased from 3-6 to 4-6
  
• Sacrificial Stab+ DMG increased from 4-8 to 5-8
  
• Sacrificial Stab+ now gains +100% DMG when targeting a Corpse
  
  • Dev Note: Sacrificial Stab's DMG range has been slightly tightened to increase the chances of killing blows and subsequent Unchecked Power generation. As this kill effect applies to Corpses, we decided to make it much easier for Sacrificial Stab to land kills on those in particular.
• Wyrd Reconstruction Bleed reduced from 3 to 2
  
• Wyrd Reconstruction+ will now apply 2 Stealth when consuming Unchecked Power
  
  • Dev Note: With Wyrd Reconstruction being a signature skill, we decided to differentiate it across all Paths while leaving the core of the skill completely unchanged aside from a reduction in unmastered Bleed as it could often result in significantly more damage than recovery.
• Anamnesis and Anamnesis+ launch ranks increased from 1 2 to 1 2 3
  
• Anamnesis Unchecked Power requirement increased from 2 to 3
  
• Anamnesis DMG increased from 1-2 to 2-4
  
• Anamnesis Bleed increased from 3 to 4
  
• Anamnesis+ DMG increased from 1-3 to 2-4
  
• Anamnesis+ CRIT increased from 5% to 10%
  
• Anamnesis+ now applies Shuffle to all targets
  
  • Dev Note: Anamnesis has been rebalanced to improve overall value as an Unchecked Power skill by improving the DMG, Bleed, and adding additional disruption.
• The Burning Stars and The Burning Stars+ no longer apply Combo
  
• The Burning Stars Unchecked Power requirement increased from 2 to 3
  
• The Burning Stars DMG increased from 8-16 to 12-18
  
• The Burning Stars CRIT reduced from 10% to 5%
  
• The Burning Stars no longer ignores Block
  
  • Dev Note: The Burning Stars has been adjusted in accordance with the previously-mentioned design philosophy, while also reining some of its overwhelming power in.
• Malediction Unchecked Power requirement increased from 2 to 3
  
• Malediction and Malediction+ no longer apply a DOT-oriented debuff
  
• Malediction and Malediction+ now ignores Dodge
  
• Malediction+ no longer decreases the target's Bleed, Blight, and Burn RES
  
• Malediction ignores 30% Debuff RES
  
• Malediction+ ignores 60% Debuff RES
  
• Malediction now applies a debuff that applies Combo to the target on Turn Start for 3 turns
  
• Malediction+ now applies a debuff that applies Combo to the target on Turn Start for 5 turns
  
  • Dev Note: We decided to experiment with providing unique versions of Malediction for each Path. The previous DOT-oriented Malediction has been moved to the Aspirant while Wanderer now has a version designed to facilitate Combo-heavy parties.

Ritualist

• This Path no longer has a 33% chance to receive Vulnerable on Turn Start
  
• This Path no longer has innate Debuff RES Piercing on Curse skills
  
• This Path no longer has a chance to gain Positive tokens when using Curse skills
  
  • Dev Note: The Ritualist has been updated to incorporate his Debuff-oriented nature into his mechanics in a less passive way while also leaning on his curses for a more Path-appropriate way of generating Unchecked Power to spend on his skills. The Ritualist benefits from some of the updated Wanderer elements as well.
• Unchecked Power grants +10% Debuff RES Piercing per token
  
• Unchecked Power reduces the Occultist's Debuff RES by 10% per token
  
  • Dev Note: In addition to Unchecked Power's standard Burn, we wanted the nature of Unchecked Power on Paths to reflect the Path itself so the previous innate Debuff RES Piercing on his curses is now an element of the token. Rather than suffering random Vulnerable tokens, the Ritualist now loses some of their own Debuff RES as the token stack grows.
• Abyssal Artillery is now a Path skill
  
• Abyssal Artillery+ does not grant Unchecked Power on CRIT
  
• Abyssal Artillery+ now grants a Speed token on CRIT
  
  • Dev Note: As it can be important to land curses before an enemy or other Hero acts, particularly in the case of Weakening Curse, we decided to add a chance of Speed token to the Ritualist's kit. This also helps balance Unchecked Power generation between Wanderer and Ritualist by differentiating their generator skills and methods.
• Binding Shadows is now a Path skill
  
• Binding Shadows and Binding Shadows+ launch ranks increased from 2 3 4 to 1 2 3 4
  
• Binding Shadows and Binding Shadows+ does not grant Unchecked Power on this Path
  
• Binding Shadows reduces target's Debuff RES by 20% for 3 rounds when target has Combo
  
• Binding Shadows+ reduces target's Debuff RES by 30% for 5 rounds when target has Combo
  
  • Dev Note: We wanted to keep an amped version of the former Wanderer Binding Shadows and this was the right Path for it. While Unchecked Power assists the Occultist in landing his own Debuffs, Binding Shadows can help the rest of the party land theirs. Duration is measured in Rounds in order for it to have more value against multi-action bosses.
• Sacrificial Stab is now a Path skill
  
• Sacrificial Stab+ does not grant Unchecked Power on kill
  
• Sacrificial Stab+ does not gain +100% DMG vs. Corpses
  
  • Dev Note: As the Ritualist can generate Unchecked Power more effectively via curses, we decided to remove the On Kill element from Sacrificial Stab for now in order to balance generation options between the Paths.
• Wyrd Reconstruction and Wyrd Reconstruction+ healing adjusted to match Wanderer
  
• Wyrd Reconstruction Bleed reduced from 3 to 2
  
• Wyrd Reconstruction+ now removes all Negative tokens on the target when consuming Unchecked Power
  
  • Dev Note: Wyrd Reconstruction's healing and Bleed values have been normalized across all Occultist Paths and given an additional Unchecked Power effect unique to the Path.
• Malediction and Malediction+ now ignore Dodge
  
• Malediction Unchecked Power requirement increased from 2 to 3
  
• Malediction and Malediction+ no longer apply a DOT-oriented debuff
  
• Malediction+ no longer reduces the target's Bleed, Blight, and Burn RES
  
• Malediction ignores 30% Debuff RES
  
• Malediction+ ignores 60% Debuff RES
  
• Malediction now applies a debuff that grants the attacker a random positive token when hitting the target. This lasts for 2 rounds.
  
• Malediction+ now inverts all Strength, Speed, Block, and Dodge tokens on the target when it is initially used
  
  • Dev Note: Malediction has been given a unique identity per Path. This one was inspired by the old Ritualist's proc chance for positive tokens when using curses, but expanded to allow other party members to benefit as well.
• Vulnerability Hex and Vulnerability Hex+ Vulnerable tokens reduced from 2 to 1
  
• Vulnerability Hex and Vulnerability Hex+ now grant 1 Unchecked Power
  
  • Dev Note: While it may seem strange to have a curse Path produce less Vulnerable, we felt that the guaranteed Unchecked Power regardless of whether you hit or whether the curse works made for a strong point of exchange in generation balance without just making this a "Wanderer++" version of Vulnerability Hex.
• Weakening Curse+ no longer removes Strength and CRIT tokens from the target
  
• Weakening Curse+ now applies a debuff that grants the Occultist 1 Unchecked Power if the target attacks. This lasts for 2 turns.
  
  • Dev Note: As expressed previously, we wanted to make curses a central point in the Ritualist's Unchecked Power generation without allowing them to become "Wanderer++" like they used to be. While it doesn't strip any positive offense tokens, the skill can now passively generate a lot of Unchecked Power -- particularly where Area of Effect skills are involved -- while still weakening the target. The right timing can generate an entire stack at once!

Warlock

• This Path no longer has an inherent -20% HP
  
• This Path no longer has a 33% chance to gain Unchecked Power on Turn Start
  
• Unchecked Power now grants +1 DMG per token
  
• Unchecked Power now reduces max HP by -10% per token
  
  • Dev Note: Warlock's Unchecked Power generation was both a feature and a problem, so it was rolled up elsewhere in the Path where it can be a feature-at-a-price. The Path no longer offers enhanced DMG on ranged skills (previously baked into their DMG values) for free but, instead, has rolled up the increased DMG and HP penalty as components of its unique version of Unchecked Power. The Warlock has acquired some small recovery options to assist with his fluctuating max HP and his beloved positional flexibility and boom potential have been retained.
• Abyssal Artillery is no longer a Path skill
  
  • Dev Note: It was only a Path skill in that it had baked-in increased DMG compared to Wanderer. Now it just uses the Wanderer version.
• Chaotic Offering is now a Path skill
  
• Chaotic Offering and Chaotic Offering+ cannot be actively used during combat
  
• Chaotic Offering passively grants a 30% chance to gain Unchecked Power on Round Start while equipped
  
• Chaotic Offering+ passively grants a 60% chance to gain Unchecked Power on Round Start while equipped
  
  • Dev Note: We're trying an experiment with Chaotic Offering. While the mastered version provides nearly twice the chance of Unchecked Power that the old Path did, it now comes at the cost of a skill slot. As long as the skill slot is functionally sacrificed, you can passively generate Unchecked Power.
• Daemon's Pull is no longer a Path skill
  
  • Dev Note: It was only a Path skill in that it had baked-in increased DMG compared to Wanderer. Now it just uses the Wanderer version.
• Sacrificial Stab is now a Path skill
  
• Sacrificial Stab retains the previous Wanderer DMG range of 3-6
  
• Sacrificial Stab+ retains the previous Wanderer DMG range of 4-8
  
• Sacrificial Stab+ does not grant Unchecked Power on kill
  
• Sacrificial Stab+ does not gain +100% DMG vs. Corpses
  
  • Dev Note: Sacrificial Stab benefits enough from Unchecked Power on this Path that we opted to keep the older, less tight DMG range that Wanderer used to have. In addition, the kill effect for Unchecked Power was removed to help balance out his generation methods.
• Wyrd Reconstruction is now a Path skill
  
• Wyrd Reconstruction+ applies 2 Regen when consuming Unchecked Power
  
  • Dev Note: The often-reduced HP Warlock gets the safety net version of Wyrd Reconstruction. We considered just having it just skip the Bleed, since a Warlock's HP is often being driven down by the Unchecked Power penalty, but opted for a Regen at the same value as the Bleed instead. This gives more ways to interact with or influence the skill's results.
• Anamnesis is now a Path skill
  
• Anamnesis and Anamnesis+ launch ranks changed from 1 2 3 to 2 3 4
  
• Anamnesis and Anamnesis+ are no longer AoE skills
  
• Anamnesis and Anamnesis+ ignore Block, Dodge, Stealth, and Guard
  
• Anamnesis and Anamnesis+ now remove all positive tokens from the target
  
• Anamnesis and Anamnesis+ DMG reduced to 1 (plus Unchecked Power DMG bonus)
  
• Anamnesis and Anamnesis+ deals an additional 1 DMG for each positive token on the target
  
• Anamnesis+ gains double the DMG bonus granted by Unchecked Power tokens
  
  • Dev Note: We wanted to do something unique for Warlock's Anamnesis so opted to do a form of positive token "DOT" bomb capable of ignoring any defensive tokens and applying very specific DMG. This gives a single target DMG option when certain defenses are in play that you'd prefer not to gamble on. Unlike traditional DOT bombs, this does not expunge the source -- only the ignored tokens traditionally removed by a damaging attack -- and is compatible with tokens such as Strength, CRIT, and Weak.
• The Burning Stars and The Burning Stars+ no longer ignore Block
  
• The Burning Stars and The Burning Stars+ no longer apply Combo
  
• The Burning Stars Unchecked Power requirement increased from 2 to 3
  
• The Burning Stars CRIT reduced from 10% to 5%
  
• The Burning Stars+ DMG decreased from 12-22 to 10-18
  
• The Burning Stars+ gains double the DMG bonus granted by Unchecked Power tokens
  
  • Dev Note: Burning Stars was often the star of the Warlock show so we decided to keep (and improve) its maximum boom potential while making it a bit harder to attain. It is now subject to all defensive tokens but it can deliver crushing damage to the undefended.
• Malediction is now a Path skill
  
• Malediction applies a debuff with a 50% chance to heal an attacker for 10% when the target is hit for 2 rounds
  
• Malediction applies a debuff with a 33% chance to heal the target for 10% when the target is hit for 2 rounds; these two effect chances are rolled independently
  
• Malediction+ applies a debuff with a 66% chance to heal an attacker for 10% when the target is hit for 2 rounds
  
• Malediction+ applies a debuff with a 33% chance to heal the target for 10% when the target is hit for 2 rounds; these two effect chances are rolled independently
  
  • Dev Note: Nobody gambles with healing quite like the Occultist does and that inspired this Warlock version of Malediction, where the heal has no threshold but also a risk of backfiring by healing the enemy.

Aspirant

• This Path no longer has an inherent +25% Max HP
  
• This Path no longer has an inherent -15% Debuff RES
  
• This Path no longer gains Block+ on Combat Start
  
• This Path now has a 66% chance to generate Unchecked Power when the Occultist moves
  
• Unchecked Power on this Path additionally grants +10% max HP per token
  
• Unchecked Power on this Path additionally has a 25% chance per token to apply 2 Immobilize. This effect is resistable.
  
  • Dev Note: Aspirant has undergone a number of changes intended to retain his front ranks capability while enhancing his mobility and filling an oft-requested "DOT role". His former HP bonus has been rolled into Unchecked Power and he uses a very different method of Unchecked Power generation compared to other Paths.
• Binding Shadows DMG reduced from 4-7 to 3-6
  
• Binding Shadows+ DMG reduced from 5-10 to 4-8
  
• Binding Shadows and Binding Shadows+ now ignore Stealth
  
• Binding Shadows and Binding Shadows+ no longer reduce Debuff RES when a target has Combo
  
• Binding Shadows and Binding Shadows+ no longer have a chance to grant Unchecked Power
  
• Binding Shadows now grants 1 Stealth when a target has Combo
  
• Binding Shadows+ now grants 2 Stealth when a target has Combo
  
  • Dev Note: His melee skills have had their DMG re-evaluated given the ease with which he now generates Unchecked Power through them. Binding Shadows has otherwise acquired the Stealth defensive capabilities of the Wanderer version.
• Sacrificial Stab DMG reduced from 4-7 to 3-6
  
• Sacrificial Stab+ DMG reduced from 5-10 to 4-8
  
• Sacrificial Stab and Sacrificial Stab+ no longer generate Unchecked Power when a target has Combo
  
• Sacrificial Stab and Sacrificial Stab+ now move the Occultist back 1 rank
  
• Sacrificial Stab now grants 1 Block if the target dies
  
• Sacrificial Stab+ now grants 1 Block+ if the target dies
  
• Sacrificial Stab+ now gains +100% DMG vs. Corpses
  
  • Dev Note: Similar to Binding Shadows, DMG on Sacrificial Stab has been re-evaluated. It now functions as a dance option so you're no longer limited to Binding Shadows for movement. Additionally, it can generate Block/Block+ tokens from killing blows to enhance front rank survivability.
• Vulnerability Hex is no longer a Path skill
  
• Weakening Curse is no longer a Path skill
  
  • Dev Note: Neither of his standard curses have penalized Debuff RES Piercing any longer and have been returned to the Wanderer version accordingly.
• Wyrd Reconstruction now clears Bleed, Blight, and Burn when consuming Unchecked Power
  
  • Dev Note: As the "DOT role" Occultist Path, it felt appropriate to have the bonus Unchecked Power effect for Aspirant be a cleanse. This also provides a rare non-Plague Doctor option for broad DOT removal.
• Anamnesis is no longer a Path skill
  
  • Dev Note: Aspirant only increased the DMG of Anamnesis in the past and the base Wanderer version already has that buff now.
• The Burning Stars is now a Path skill
  
• The Burning Stars DMG reduced from 12-18 to 6-11
  
• The Burning Stars+ DMG reduced from 12-18 to 7-13
  
• The Burning Stars+ does not ignore Block
  
• The Burning Stars and The Burning Stars+ now applies 4 Burn for 3 Turns
  
• The Burning Stars+ now copies Burn from the Occultist to the target. This effect cannot be resisted.
  
  • Dev Note: We received a lot of requests for a version of The Burning Stars that inflicted Burn so here it is, with a bit of unique Occultist flavor when mastered!
• Malediction is now a Path skill based on the pre-patch version of Malediction with the following adjustments
  
• Malediction & Malediction+ ignore Dodge
  
• Malediction ignores 30% Debuff RES
  
• Malediction+ ignores 60% Debuff RES
  
• Malediction+ increased the amount of Bleed, Blight, or Burn applied from 2 to 3
  
• Malediction+ no longer reduces the target's Bleed, Blight, and Burn RES
  
  • Dev Notes: We felt that the fun of Malediction was the roll to inflict DOTs, not the roll to land the debuff, so Malediction and Malediction+ are generally capable of bypassing most, if not all, Debuff RES levels without assistance. We removed the Bleed/Blight/Burn RES debuff applied with mastery but increased the DOT value instead to give it a little more punch.

Wanderer (Note: At this time, Wanderer is the only reworked Plague Doctor path. Her other paths will be ready for testing in a future update).

• Dev Note: the core kit of the Plague Doctor has undergone some revisions to improve some older utility skills as well as account for the recent change to CRITs and DOTs. Some additional adjustments have been made to slightly loosen positioning restrictions in some cases and promote more party composition options.
  
• Max HP has been increased from 28 to 32
  
• Blinding Gas+ CRIT increased from 10% to 15%
  
• Dev Note: A little improvement to a non-damaging skill to provide additional mastery value.
  
• Cause of Death DMG increased from 75% of DOT value to 100%
  
• Cause of Death+ DMG increased from 100% of DOT value to 150%
  
• Cause of Death+ no longer applies Combo
  
• Cause of Death+ now has an Execution value of 1
  
  • Dev Note: We wanted to make some small thematic updates. In addition, we're aware that much of the value of DOT-bombing is driven by CRITs increasing the total DOT value on the target. As of this patch, CRITs no longer influence the duration of DOTs so we've increased Cause of Death's DMG to help offset some of the perceived loss while also making it less reliant on CRITs overall.
• Disorienting Blast and Disorienting Blast+ now remove all Guard from the target
  
• Disorienting Blast+ CRIT increased from 10% to 15%
  
  • Dev Note: Adding a little more mastery value for a skill that deals no direct damage and providing some additional utility that feels thematically suitable.
• Emboldening Vapours and Emboldening Vapours+ Strength tokens increased from 1 to 2
  
• Emboldening Vapours now removes all Daze
  
• Emboldening Vapours+ now removes all Daze and Stun prior to applying its Speed token
  
• Emboldening Vapours+ cooldown increased from 0 to 1
  
  • Dev Note: Updating one of the oldest skills in the game to better match current standards and provide a little more utility.
• Incision+ now deals +1 increased Bleed duration when the target has Combo, in addition to the pre-existing Bleed RES Piercing that it provides
  
• Noxious Blast+ Blight reduced from 6 to 5
  
• Noxious Blast+ CRIT increased from 5% to 10%
  
• Noxious Blast+ now deals +1 increased Blight duration when the target has Combo, in addition to the pre-existing Blight RES Piercing that it provides
  
  • Dev Note: With changes to how CRITs and DOTs interact, we felt it important to include ways to enhance DOT damage natively and controllably for some skills.
• Ounce of Prevention and Ounce of Prevention+ launch ranks increased from 3 4 to 2 3 4
  
• Ounce of Prevention Bleed, Blight, and Burn RES buff increased from 15% to 20%
  
• Ounce of Prevention+ Bleed, Blight, and Burn RES buff increased from 25% to 30%
  
• Ounce of Prevention+ now also grants +10% Debuff RES (3 Turns)
  
  • Dev Note: Some people really get the math of prevention and this buff is for you. We felt that it needed a small bump at the lower end and the higher end should come up in tandem. Debuff RES also increases the value of the skill in a variety of situations or with certain Heroes.

The next Darkest Dungeon II update is officially in the works!

This release, entitled ‘The Steadfast Steward’s Update’ will roll out a little differently this time around. Later this month, we’ll be enlisting YOU, the Darkest Dungeon community, to collaborate with the Red Hook team and help us create the next Darkest Dungeon II update.

We’ve summarized all the details of what you can expect for this release, and how you can participate below!

What is it:

The Steadfast Steward’s Update is an update focused on quality of life improvements! Our plan is to push weekly releases to our experimental branches, and collect community feedback to help inform our changes. We plan to tidy up a number of different areas in the game, mainly in the Confessions game mode.

Please note that we are not adding new content such as regions, or new enemies and heroes. We felt this was a great time to return to many areas of the game that haven’t had a refresh since they were first implemented.

What are the areas we plan to tackle:

• Hero reworks - Our goal is to complete the remaining hero reworks (Occultist, Runaway, Leper, Plague Doctor and Hellion)
  
• Academics View - We want to add more information to the Academics View including ally skill cooldowns and uses, speed and previously hidden information
  
• Tooltips - We are improving tooltip legibility across the game
  
• Token Glossary - We are expanding the token glossary to include more tokens found in the game, working to make it more context specific (i.e. showing only relevant tokens), and improving overall clarity
  
• Miscellaneous changes - We are going to test retreating and item selling in Confessions, and depending on time constraints, we’d also like to have a look at ordainment, memories, and various other systems throughout the game. We will prioritize these changes based on what you would like to see. Once our feedback channels are open, you can tell us what you’d like tackled first!

What makes this different from other updates:

Typically, our team reviews community feedback once an update is out, and will implement suggestions in future updates. With the Steadfast Steward’s Update, we’re inviting the community to send us feedback much earlier in the development process, similar to how we conduct our private tests!

You’ll be able to play new builds weekly, and send us your thoughts in the Darkest Dungeon Discord. We plan to make a section of our Discord entirely dedicated to this update, and our designers will be active in these channels, asking questions and following up on your comments. Our goal is to implement player feedback quickly, with changes happening every week.

Because of the nature of this update, our designers will be much more up front with the intentions behind their changes. We plan to post more detailed patch notes outlining our goals to help the community measure if our intent is matching our implementation.

This plan also means that our experimental branches are about to get a lot more experimental. Typically when we publish a build to these branches, it is essentially complete. We leave those builds up to soak for a few days and see if the community at large spots any issues we might have missed during our private beta period. The Steadfast Steward’s experimental builds will be in a much earlier state of development, and thus will not be nearly as complete. This will allow us to continue to iterate as we collect your feedback. Due to this, you will likely find more bugs and missing strings than you normally would on these branches. It also bears mentioning that non-English language translations for any newly added or changed lines will also be absent until we get closer to the end of this period.

How often will builds be posted:

Our goal is to publish weekly builds on our coming_in_hot and experimental branches on Steam and Epic.

How do I participate:

If you want to participate, you’ll simply need to play the game on the coming_in_hot branch once builds become available, and then send us your feedback.

The best way to do this is by joining the Darkest Dungeon Discord[discord.gg].

We will have a specific section dedicated to the Steadfast Steward’s update with different channels for hero reworks, tooltips, and more. Note: This section will be added to our Discord later this month, once our first build is live.

You can also email your thoughts to [email protected] if you’d prefer to send feedback that way.

Please note, participation is NOT necessary. If you don’t want to help test this update, you can continue playing on the regular retail branches as normal, and enjoy the completed update when it is eventually released.

When will it release to the default branches:

We do not have a set release date for the Steadfast Steward’s Update, but are currently aiming for a mid-July release to our retail branches.

We can’t wait to work with you and collaborate on this release! Our first build is currently planned for the end of May, and we’ll notify everyone as soon as it’s up and ready for testing.