In the recent Dark and Darker patch, Hotfix 13, the game underwent a major transformation. Among them, Rogue faces a significant weakening, and Clerics receives a buff, which also includes impending wipe and balance changes.

Here, we dissect these changes to provide you with the insights you need to adapt and thrive in this changing environment. So let’s unpack the intricacies of these updates, prepare for the upcoming wipe, and explore what the future holds for this dynamic gaming world.

Rogue Nerfs

The recent patch brought some big changes to Rogue class. Here we first talk about the various aspects of Rogue being weakened.

First, Rogue’s base agility is reduced from 35 to 30. This change makes Rogue slower and affects their swing speed. However, Rogue’s base Resourcefulness has been increased from 15 to 20. This means Rogue will earn Dark and Darker Gold faster and mine faster, with mining speeds increasing by approximately 10%.

What’s more, it has significantly reduced the damage bonus to their Ambush skill from 50% to 30%. This is a huge nerf to Rogue’s burst damage potential.

Also, the base duration of Rogue’s hidden ability has been significantly reduced from 60 seconds to just 20 seconds. But the developers introduced a new Hide Mastery perk for Rogue to increase the duration of their hide abilities. Although this does not specify an exact percentage increase.

Finally, Rogue’s Weakpoint Attack takes a heavy hit. Weakpoint Attack’s 50% weapon damage bonus has been removed. Also, Armor rating debuff has been reduced from 40% to 25%. Meanwhile, the duration of this Weakpoint Attack is reduced from 5 seconds to 3 seconds. And the damage of all daggers has been reduced.

Together, these changes resulted in a significant nerf in the Rogue class, especially in terms of damage output. Rogue players are now expected to rely more on other strategies, such as stacking poison or building up magic damage.

Clerics Buff

While Rogue class has been nerfed, Clerics class has also received some tweaks. The changes mainly focus on its base statistics.

First, Clerics’ base strength is increased from 11 to 13, giving Clerics approximately 6 additional health points.

Also, Clerics’ base agility has been slightly increased from 11 to 12 points, resulting in approximately a 3% increase in running speed.

Clerics base Will reduced from 30 to 25. This reduces their healing amount, spell damage, and buff duration. But the reduction in Clerics is far less significant than the nerf in Rogue.

Finally, Clerics’ base Resourcefulness has been increased from 5% to 7%, which helps open doors and chests faster. This increases heist speed and overall gameplay efficiency.

Upcoming Updates

In addition to the changes mentioned above, the developers are also planning a major update for Tuesday, September 26th. This update addresses a serious gold cheating issue.

This update will wipe all player inventories, including items and gold. However, players will retain their character and level progression. Also, the update will introduce sweeping balance changes that will affect nearly every class, weapon, and item in the game.

Given that Rogue class has been significantly weakened, there is a lot of uncertainty about its future viability. Therefore, we recommend you test Rogue class frequently as of late to evaluate how these changes affect gameplay.

However, I suspect they may make further adjustments to balance the classes before the patch. Other classes may also receive changes to bring them in line with the new Rogue stats.

Overall, the recent patch has had a major impact on Rogue class, while slightly buffing Clerics class. A sweeping balance change is coming, heralding an exciting new phase for the game. Please keep an eye out for further updates and adjust your play style accordingly.