I like some of the changes and the lore stuff is great. Some of the new types of enemies though make higher levels just seem kinda stupid. The plagued version in particular is a literal quest ender if you don't have somebody to cure it. I've had multiple warrens quests just end because a 12 spd spitter plagued my guys before I could stomp him.

Now You can claim, some variation on, "git good bruh" but my point remains that diseases went from being a pain, to being a quest killer. I'd just like to see some version of this that didn't go for maximum rage creation on pure RnG. As it stands I think they're unbalanced, in that, they make certain areas far more difficult than others. When it comes to the warrens, you either bring a plague doctor and hope you have enough chances to cure, or you're bust.

On the characters, it seems like you buffed a couple of them who didn't need it, and nerfed a couple who were middling to start with. The Man at Arms was always rediculously good, but now his buffs last longer and help more, and his protection automatically gives a riposte. Similarly with the Vestal who is generally regarded as an autobring, unless you like the risks of an occultist, is now even better with a self stress heal and a chance to cure with her targetted heal. The abom feels much weaker now, as does the leper, both of whom have less effective self heals, with very little to even them out.

On the whole, I like the feel of PBD, and the added fluff is awesome. Which is why I keep going back time after time of being pounded, I just want to see all the lore added in.

I don't like that the enemies i kill come back to life when i don't have time to take care of their bodies, especially at the lower levels i just don't have the firepower to mow down both enemies still alive and bodies at the same time.

Originally posted by Wolfy ^_^ PT:

I don't like that the enemies i kill come back to life when i don't have time to take care of their bodies, especially at the lower levels i just don't have the firepower to mow down both enemies still alive and bodies at the same time.

This is part of the Ruins and won't change; it's meant to be a battle of attrition.

Tried applying PBD to my already-existing Radiant file, and happy to say that it worked cleanly. Of course, it completely overwrote the Radiant changes, but the already-existing building upgrades and already-gotten trinkets remained intact. Was also able to disable the mod without issue, except in the case where a community trinket appeared in a quest.: in that case, the game crashed when I tried to Embark after disabling the mod. Disabling it worked fine in the next week, though, when there were no community trinkets showing.

Overall I like some of the changes, dislike others.

+ Corpses and corpse removal is a welcome change, as are the level 3 and 5 changes to abilities.
- I'm not certain, but it seems like several abilities are straight-up weaker than their original counterparts. A result of PBD being developed before certain buffs/changes were applied?

+ Dungeon generation and curio interactions are a lot more fun.
- Several curios seem to never show up, others show up way too often. Specifically, books show up more than any other curio, meanwhile in 32 weeks of play I didn't see a single pool or bas relief.

+ Potions make running party comps with less healing more of an option, meaning more combinations are viable
-Extremely limited provisions mean Cure is absolutely necessary for every party, meaning fewer combinations are viable

- Certain classes feel very weak compared to others, particularly the Abomination. Every party I've run with an Abomination has failed, largely due to his extreme drawbacks.

- After starting with an extremely strong economy in my Radiant playthrough (over 70,000 gold), through careful play and minimal losses, and not spending any cash at all on building upgrades or quick removal, I still managed to get down to 3,000 gold.
--Secret rooms, even fighting the Collector (which almost never happens) are rarely worth the effort. Many times I've gotten less from the chest than the key I spent on it. Many curio interactions were similarly not worth the cost of the provision used on them.
--Antiquarians aren't worth taking. The antiques aren't worth the slots they occupy.
--100% exploration missions are an absolute nightmare, requiring extra provisions and not rewarding anything extra in return.
--Overall, most missions were barely protifable at Apprentice and Veteran level. I found myself losing money with most successful missions, thanks to disease treatment and weapon/armor/skill upgrades.

The mod adds a lot of fun things and shakes up the game a lot, but it's often more frustrating than anything else, not due to difficulty but due to the lack of meaningful reward. Spending 150 on a key only to get 50 gold out of a secret room chest in pitch darkness is just depressing. I turned off the mod once I got down to 3000 gold, I doubt I'll turn it back on until I upgrade everything.

In terms of actual difficulty, I only lost three parties. Two of which were my own fault, forgetting trinkets and torches. Other one was the first dungeon I did when I accidentally summoned a Necromancer on the very first curio.

Originally posted by McBoatface:

Tried applying PBD to my already-existing Radiant file, and happy to say that it worked cleanly. Of course, it completely overwrote the Radiant changes, but the already-existing building upgrades and already-gotten trinkets remained intact. Was also able to disable the mod without issue, except in the case where a community trinket appeared in a quest.: in that case, the game crashed when I tried to Embark after disabling the mod. Disabling it worked fine in the next week, though, when there were no community trinkets showing.

Overall I like some of the changes, dislike others.

+ Corpses and corpse removal is a welcome change, as are the level 3 and 5 changes to abilities.
- I'm not certain, but it seems like several abilities are straight-up weaker than their original counterparts. A result of PBD being developed before certain buffs/changes were applied?

+ Dungeon generation and curio interactions are a lot more fun.
- Several curios seem to never show up, others show up way too often. Specifically, books show up more than any other curio, meanwhile in 32 weeks of play I didn't see a single pool or bas relief.

+ Potions make running party comps with less healing more of an option, meaning more combinations are viable
-Extremely limited provisions mean Cure is absolutely necessary for every party, meaning fewer combinations are viable

- Certain classes feel very weak compared to others, particularly the Abomination. Every party I've run with an Abomination has failed, largely due to his extreme drawbacks.

- After starting with an extremely strong economy in my Radiant playthrough (over 70,000 gold), through careful play and minimal losses, and not spending any cash at all on building upgrades or quick removal, I still managed to get down to 3,000 gold.
--Secret rooms, even fighting the Collector (which almost never happens) are rarely worth the effort. Many times I've gotten less from the chest than the key I spent on it. Many curio interactions were similarly not worth the cost of the provision used on them.
--Antiquarians aren't worth taking. The antiques aren't worth the slots they occupy.
--100% exploration missions are an absolute nightmare, requiring extra provisions and not rewarding anything extra in return.
--Overall, most missions were barely protifable at Apprentice and Veteran level. I found myself losing money with most successful missions, thanks to disease treatment and weapon/armor/skill upgrades.

The mod adds a lot of fun things and shakes up the game a lot, but it's often more frustrating than anything else, not due to difficulty but due to the lack of meaningful reward. Spending 150 on a key only to get 50 gold out of a secret room chest in pitch darkness is just depressing. I turned off the mod once I got down to 3000 gold, I doubt I'll turn it back on until I upgrade everything.

In terms of actual difficulty, I only lost three parties. Two of which were my own fault, forgetting trinkets and torches. Other one was the first dungeon I did when I accidentally summoned a Necromancer on the very first curio.

Thank you for writing all of this, and I'll take my time to address each point, as many things have changed over the course of the last 8 months in regards to PBD's balance.

• Many abilities have either been reworked or overhauled for PBD 6.0, and I've been working closely with my beta testers to fix areas that have needed it for a long time now. One of the side effects of 5.0's massive content updates meant it needed a thorough looking-over as a whole, hence 6.0's focus.
  
• Some curios show up more often, some less often. Bas-reliefs and tidepools have always been the rarest hallway curios in the cove, not including the Shambler's altar which is more rare.
  
• While additional ways to cure have been added to PBD 6.0, there are more ways to cure than even in vanilla simply just with heroes. Add on top of that the increased number of camps, and the addition of potions, and you have a staggering number of ways to cure. DoTs are meant to be scary, and if you don't want to bring a class that can heal then it's recommended to bring ways to resist the DoTs.
  
• As stated in the first point, many changes have been made to heroes. In regards to the Abomination specifically, there are many who would disagree with your statement, including those who have beaten PBD. He has the highest base damage of any class, and if you're expecting to transform every fight, you're using him incorrectly.
  
• When I see people going through gold so quickly it's usually because of two things: poor hamlet management, and not doing medium or long quests. Successfully completing quests will net you with an extraordinary amount of gold, but you are recommended to do longer quests if you hope to see a return larger than a few thousand after expenses.
  
• As stated in the lore you get when you start PBD, curios do not provide you with additional loot in the darkness. Secret room chests, with a key, will net you a very minimum of 750 gold. The number provided as an example isn't possible at all.
  
• Curio interactions have already been boosted for PBD 6.0, notably the loot interactions with non-purchaseable potions.
  
• Antiquarians are absolutely worth taking, and with the gold problems you stated, it might be well worth the effort to bring one along. Aside from the boosts to loot, they're fantastic buffers for your team. (and she has a cure)
  
• 100% exploration quests actually spawn fewer rooms than 80% exploration quests. Due to the design, the required number of rooms is equal for either. The 100% explore will require less provisions, but have a higher concentration of curios and battles. Many mistake the percentage for requiring more work, while in many ways it requires less.
  
• Despite the vast number of changes and balances with 6.0, many in PBD 5.x have not had as much trouble making gold. It seems to be coming from a misunderstanding as to how to manage the hamlet and which quests to embark on to make a sizable profit.

What I encourage you to do is come by our Discord server[discord.gg] and confront me and other players directly about these issues. Ask them how they managed and see if they have tips. While you're there I'd love to share more information on PBD 6.0 and see if it touches on these points directly.

Not a big fan over dead bodies spamming bleeding and other non sence on my party when they are dead...

Im finding that the requirements to upgrade the armory to unlock more weapons and armor is too expensive for the second stage, when your starting out your game. Also the same can be said for the guild combat ability's level . Im not trying to complain about everything, but this specific one is what bothers me the most ,after 10 hours of playing, i still have not been able to get them to level 3.

Originally posted by Wolfy ^_^ PT:

Not a big fan over dead bodies spamming bleeding and other non sence on my party when they are dead...

Definitely bring corpse-clearing skills; don't undervalue them!

Originally posted by Wolfy ^_^ PT:

Im finding that the requirements to upgrade the armory to unlock more weapons and armor is too expensive for the second stage, when your starting out your game. Also the same can be said for the guild combat ability's level . Im not trying to complain about everything, but this specific one is what bothers me the most ,after 10 hours of playing, i still have not been able to get them to level 3.

Heirloom loot increases are coming with PBD 6.0, so stay tuned!

Could someone explain all the usages of the new items? For example, what is flask of caustic solution used for? Also what changes where made to the curio's, some of the items you use to search them safely no longuer work, if so, what are the new items to be used on them? What is the diference between each diferent kind of health potion?

Originally posted by Wolfy ^_^ PT:

Could someone explain all the usages of the new items? For example, what is flask of caustic solution used for? Also what changes where made to the curio's, some of the items you use to search them safely no longuer work, if so, what are the new items to be used on them? What is the diference between each diferent kind of health potion?

As the tutorial lore instructs, make sure to read the glossary or use the links in the mod's directory to read the PBD guide. You're always free to join our discord server[discord.gg] to find links to everything as well.

Originally posted by Maester Silvio:

Originally posted by McBoatface:

Tried applying PBD to my already-existing Radiant file, and happy to say that it worked cleanly. Of course, it completely overwrote the Radiant changes, but the already-existing building upgrades and already-gotten trinkets remained intact. Was also able to disable the mod without issue, except in the case where a community trinket appeared in a quest.: in that case, the game crashed when I tried to Embark after disabling the mod. Disabling it worked fine in the next week, though, when there were no community trinkets showing.

Overall I like some of the changes, dislike others.

+ Corpses and corpse removal is a welcome change, as are the level 3 and 5 changes to abilities.
- I'm not certain, but it seems like several abilities are straight-up weaker than their original counterparts. A result of PBD being developed before certain buffs/changes were applied?

+ Dungeon generation and curio interactions are a lot more fun.
- Several curios seem to never show up, others show up way too often. Specifically, books show up more than any other curio, meanwhile in 32 weeks of play I didn't see a single pool or bas relief.

+ Potions make running party comps with less healing more of an option, meaning more combinations are viable
-Extremely limited provisions mean Cure is absolutely necessary for every party, meaning fewer combinations are viable

- Certain classes feel very weak compared to others, particularly the Abomination. Every party I've run with an Abomination has failed, largely due to his extreme drawbacks.

- After starting with an extremely strong economy in my Radiant playthrough (over 70,000 gold), through careful play and minimal losses, and not spending any cash at all on building upgrades or quick removal, I still managed to get down to 3,000 gold.
--Secret rooms, even fighting the Collector (which almost never happens) are rarely worth the effort. Many times I've gotten less from the chest than the key I spent on it. Many curio interactions were similarly not worth the cost of the provision used on them.
--Antiquarians aren't worth taking. The antiques aren't worth the slots they occupy.
--100% exploration missions are an absolute nightmare, requiring extra provisions and not rewarding anything extra in return.
--Overall, most missions were barely protifable at Apprentice and Veteran level. I found myself losing money with most successful missions, thanks to disease treatment and weapon/armor/skill upgrades.

The mod adds a lot of fun things and shakes up the game a lot, but it's often more frustrating than anything else, not due to difficulty but due to the lack of meaningful reward. Spending 150 on a key only to get 50 gold out of a secret room chest in pitch darkness is just depressing. I turned off the mod once I got down to 3000 gold, I doubt I'll turn it back on until I upgrade everything.

In terms of actual difficulty, I only lost three parties. Two of which were my own fault, forgetting trinkets and torches. Other one was the first dungeon I did when I accidentally summoned a Necromancer on the very first curio.

Thank you for writing all of this, and I'll take my time to address each point, as many things have changed over the course of the last 8 months in regards to PBD's balance.

• Many abilities have either been reworked or overhauled for PBD 6.0, and I've been working closely with my beta testers to fix areas that have needed it for a long time now. One of the side effects of 5.0's massive content updates meant it needed a thorough looking-over as a whole, hence 6.0's focus.
  
• Some curios show up more often, some less often. Bas-reliefs and tidepools have always been the rarest hallway curios in the cove, not including the Shambler's altar which is more rare.
  
• While additional ways to cure have been added to PBD 6.0, there are more ways to cure than even in vanilla simply just with heroes. Add on top of that the increased number of camps, and the addition of potions, and you have a staggering number of ways to cure. DoTs are meant to be scary, and if you don't want to bring a class that can heal then it's recommended to bring ways to resist the DoTs.
  
• As stated in the first point, many changes have been made to heroes. In regards to the Abomination specifically, there are many who would disagree with your statement, including those who have beaten PBD. He has the highest base damage of any class, and if you're expecting to transform every fight, you're using him incorrectly.
  
• When I see people going through gold so quickly it's usually because of two things: poor hamlet management, and not doing medium or long quests. Successfully completing quests will net you with an extraordinary amount of gold, but you are recommended to do longer quests if you hope to see a return larger than a few thousand after expenses.
  
• As stated in the lore you get when you start PBD, curios do not provide you with additional loot in the darkness. Secret room chests, with a key, will net you a very minimum of 750 gold. The number provided as an example isn't possible at all.
  
• Curio interactions have already been boosted for PBD 6.0, notably the loot interactions with non-purchaseable potions.
  
• Antiquarians are absolutely worth taking, and with the gold problems you stated, it might be well worth the effort to bring one along. Aside from the boosts to loot, they're fantastic buffers for your team. (and she has a cure)
  
• 100% exploration quests actually spawn fewer rooms than 80% exploration quests. Due to the design, the required number of rooms is equal for either. The 100% explore will require less provisions, but have a higher concentration of curios and battles. Many mistake the percentage for requiring more work, while in many ways it requires less.
  
• Despite the vast number of changes and balances with 6.0, many in PBD 5.x have not had as much trouble making gold. It seems to be coming from a misunderstanding as to how to manage the hamlet and which quests to embark on to make a sizable profit.

What I encourage you to do is come by our Discord server[discord.gg] and confront me and other players directly about these issues. Ask them how they managed and see if they have tips. While you're there I'd love to share more information on PBD 6.0 and see if it touches on these points directly.

I really hope changes do come from 6.0, because at the moment it's a bit ridiculous.

-I wish I'd taken a screenshot of it, but I did in fact get 50 gold and two food from a secret room chest after using a key. It might be related to applying the mod to an existing save, but it certainly did happen.

As mentioned, I haven't spent any gold at all on improving the Hamlet, as I had up to rank 3 upgrades already before applying the mod. The only non-provision expenses were weapon/armor/skill upgrades. I almost exclusively run medium missions, and the profits are just not there even with an Antiquarian.

My main issue with the mod is that despite the numerous improvements to hero skills (especially previously underused ones), party compositions feel even more limited. There seems to be correct and incorrect choices, with the majority of options being very much incorrect. Even moreso for trinkets, many feel absolutely useless thanks to each party needing extra resists, extra healing, extra stress reduction just to survive.

Cures in particular beign necessary heavily restricts the types of viable parties, even with more heroes having access to cures. With cures like the Antiquarian's and Arbalest's being on such low chances, particularly at Veteran level, it often becomes an exercise in futility to even bother curing, and yet bleeds have been the number one killer of my parties thus far.

I turned off reinforcements for the battle I'm in as I write this, as I had spent 8 turns attempting to cure a single stacked bleed, using both an Arbalest *and* an Antiquarian. The character died anyway after 15 turns of failure. Low chance cures in addition to extremely limited bandages is a recipe for an extremely frustrating experience. Being at the mercy of so much RNG, with so few options to prevent it, is just upsetting.

Originally posted by McBoatface:

I really hope changes do come from 6.0, because at the moment it's a bit ridiculous.

-I wish I'd taken a screenshot of it, but I did in fact get 50 gold and two food from a secret room chest after using a key. It might be related to applying the mod to an existing save, but it certainly did happen.

As mentioned, I haven't spent any gold at all on improving the Hamlet, as I had up to rank 3 upgrades already before applying the mod. The only non-provision expenses were weapon/armor/skill upgrades. I almost exclusively run medium missions, and the profits are just not there even with an Antiquarian.

My main issue with the mod is that despite the numerous improvements to hero skills (especially previously underused ones), party compositions feel even more limited. There seems to be correct and incorrect choices, with the majority of options being very much incorrect. Even moreso for trinkets, many feel absolutely useless thanks to each party needing extra resists, extra healing, extra stress reduction just to survive.

Cures in particular beign necessary heavily restricts the types of viable parties, even with more heroes having access to cures. With cures like the Antiquarian's and Arbalest's being on such low chances, particularly at Veteran level, it often becomes an exercise in futility to even bother curing, and yet bleeds have been the number one killer of my parties thus far.

I turned off reinforcements for the battle I'm in as I write this, as I had spent 8 turns attempting to cure a single stacked bleed, using both an Arbalest *and* an Antiquarian. The character died anyway after 15 turns of failure. Low chance cures in addition to extremely limited bandages is a recipe for an extremely frustrating experience. Being at the mercy of so much RNG, with so few options to prevent it, is just upsetting.

• You definitely cannot get 50 gold or 2 food from a secret room. I can show you the loot tables it draws from, but 50 gold isn't possible and food isn't even something you can get. It sounds like you're using another mod that messes with loot, which certainly would explain why you're getting very little gold.

Would not suggest, while it's certainly something to chew on if you feel like you've mastered Darkest Dungeon in its vanilla format, the mod itself reeks of fake difficulty with every step.

I gave it an earnest try, and while I found some mechanics interesting, ultimately the game felt too random and arbitray compared to the vanilla experience. The most egregious thing in my own mind was being forced to abandon a quest due to consecrating remains (a common thing done in vanilla to obvious benefit) and being forced to fight a Necromancer. Not only did I have no way to know this was even a remote possibility, I had no reason to think I was taking a risk at all.

Fighting necromancers feels nigh impossible, especially since unless you constantly crit-kill or DOT kill the flunkies there's a very high chance you will just be mobbed to death by skeletal minions.

The feeling of fake difficulty is only compounded by the fact you will have no choice but to due torchless runs in order to accrue money, which you will be haemorrhaging due to the multitude of expenses for upgrades, hero maintenance, and just basic supplies as to avoid failing quests.

On the topic of supplies, healing potions not only feel very out of place within the setting of Darkest Dungeon, they also don't provide a clear amount of use, all of the 'Apprentice' healing potions available have variable prices but I have no way of knowing how much health they will each heal unless I purchase them and then utilize them.

In essence, this mod simply -is- the exact accusations hurled at the original game, unfair RNG with no real skill or depth to it, though if you find that fun rather than frustrating, you will probably enjoy it all the same.

Originally posted by Lestrade:

Would not suggest, while it's certainly something to chew on if you feel like you've mastered Darkest Dungeon in its vanilla format, the mod itself reeks of fake difficulty with every step.

I gave it an earnest try, and while I found some mechanics interesting, ultimately the game felt too random and arbitray compared to the vanilla experience. The most egregious thing in my own mind was being forced to abandon a quest due to consecrating remains (a common think done in vanilla to obvious benefit) and being forced to fight a Necromancer. Not only did I have no way to know this was even a remote possibility, I had no reason to think I was taking a risk at all.

Fighting necromancers feels nigh impossible, especially since unless you constantly crit-kill or DOT kill the flunkies there's a very high chance you will just be mobbed to death by skeletal minions.

The feeling of fake difficulty is only compounded by the fact you will have no choice but to due torchless runs in order to accrue money, which you will be haemorrhaging due to the multitude of expenses for upgrades, hero maintenance, and just basic supplies as to avoid failing quests.

On the topic of supplies, healing potions not only feel very out of place within the setting of Darkest Dungeon, they also don't provide a clear amount of use, all of the 'Apprentice' healing potions available have variable prices but I have no way of knowing how much health they will each heal unless I purchase them and then utilize them.

In essence, this mod simply -is- the exact accusations hurled at the original game, unfair RNG with no real skill or depth to it, though if you find that fun rather than frustrating, you will probably enjoy it all the same.

While I appreciate the feedback, I can say with certainty that PBD 6.0 addresses many issues here. I can also say that many would disagree with your notion that torchless runs are required. You can make a hearty amount of gold without ever fighting in full darkness.

What I find is that people have a difficult time adjusting to all of the changes, and therefor have a difficult time in general. This leads to failure, and then posts like this. I encourage you to join our discord server[discord.gg] and hear about all of the changes coming in PBD's largest update yet aimed at balance and bug-fixing rather than content addition.

Originally posted by Wolfy ^_^ PT:

Would it be possible to make journal page's stack up to a maximum of three or two? Some valuables you find in this game that are worth the same (500) stack with each other, i don't see why the journal page's should not. Thanks for reading!

It is impossible for journal pages to stack due to their metadata, sadly. Trust me, I'm with you on this one, but it's just not possible.