In recent Dark and Darker patches, the game has undergone major transformations, with Rogues facing substantial nerfs, Clerics receiving buffs, and an impending wipe and balance changes on the horizon. In this article, we will dissect these changes, providing you with the insights you need to adapt and thrive in this shifting landscape. So, let's unravel the intricacies of these updates, prepare for an impending wipe, and explore what lies ahead in this dynamic gaming world.

• Rogue Nerfed into Oblivion
• Cleric Buff
• Impending Patch and Wipe
• What to Expect?

↖ Rogue Nerfed into Oblivion

The recent patches have brought about some major changes to the Rogue class. Onepeg, our source for this information, suggests that Rogues have been heavily nerfed. Here are the key changes:

Rogue's Base Stats:

• Base Agility Decreased: Rogue's base agility has been reduced from 35 to 30. This change makes Rogues slower and affects their swing speed.
• Base Resourcefulness Increased: Rogue's base resourcefulness has been increased from 15 to 20. This means Rogues will access things faster and mine considerably quicker, with about a 10% increase in mining speed.

Rogue's Ambush Perk:

• Damage Bonus Decrease: The Ambush perk's damage bonus has been reduced significantly from 50% to 30%. This is a substantial nerf to Rogue's burst damage potential.

Rogue's Hide Ability:

• Base Duration Decrease: Rogue's Hide base duration has been significantly reduced from 60 seconds to just 20 seconds.
• New Hide Mastery Perk: A new Hide Mastery perk has been introduced for Rogues to increase their Hide duration, although the exact percentage increase is not specified.

Weak Point Attacks:

• Damage and Debuff Reduction: Weak point attacks have been hit hard. The 50% weapon damage bonus on weak point attacks has been removed. Additionally, the armor rating debuff has been reduced from a 40% reduction to a 25% reduction.
• Duration Decrease: The duration of weak point attacks has been reduced from 5 seconds to 3 seconds.
• Dagger Damage Reduction: All daggers' damage has been reduced.

These changes collectively result in a substantial nerf to the Rogue class, particularly in terms of damage output. Rogues are now expected to rely more on other strategies like stacking poison or building towards magic damage.

↖ Cleric Buff

While the Rogue class has been nerfed, Clerics has received some adjustments as well. These changes primarily focus on their base stats:

Cleric's Base Stats:

• Strength Increase: Cleric's base strength has been increased from 11 to 13, providing Clerics with approximately 6 additional hit points.
• Agility Increase: Cleric's base agility has been slightly boosted from 11 to 12, resulting in about a 3% increase in run speed.
• Will Decrease: Cleric's base will has been decreased from 30 to 25. This reduces the amount of healing, spell damage, and buff duration they have, though the reduction is not as significant as the Rogue's nerf.
• Resourcefulness Increase: Cleric's base resourcefulness has been increased from 5 to 7%, which aids in opening doors and chests faster. This improves looting speed and general gameplay efficiency.

↖ Impending Patch and Wipe

In addition to the changes mentioned above, there is a significant update planned for Tuesday, September 26th. This update has been rescheduled from Friday to address a serious gold-duping bug. Here's what you can expect:

• Inventory Wipe: This update will wipe players' inventories, including all items and gold. However, players will keep their characters and level progression.
• Balance Changes: The update will introduce sweeping balance changes that will affect almost every class, weapon, and item in the game. Specific details about these changes are yet to be disclosed.

↖ What to Expect?

Given the substantial nerfs to the Rogue class, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding its future viability. Players are encouraged to test out the Rogue class over the weekend to assess how these changes impact gameplay. Further adjustments may be made before the Tuesday patch to balance the class, or other classes might receive changes to align them with the new Rogue stats.

Stay tuned for further updates and a live Q&A session with the developers in the coming weeks to gain more insights into the changes and the direction of the game.

Conclusion:

The recent patches have significantly impacted the Rogue class while slightly buffing Clerics. A wipe and sweeping balance changes are on the horizon, promising an exciting new phase in the game. Keep an eye out for further updates and adapt your playstyle accordingly. Happy gaming!