Darkness is an ever looming threat across all of your runs. For each enemy you defeat, you will increase your Darkness Curse amount. When your Curse amount reaches the limit, the Darkness Level will increase and all enemies will scale to become more difficult. You will also receive a 
Devotee's Burden, granting you access to Rituals located around the world, granting powerful blessings at the cost of temporary debuffs!
Rework Changes - TL:DR[]
Darkness has been completely reworked. The quick list of changes is below:
- The Nameless Abyss Boss Fight has been removed. This requires further work, and will be reintroduced later as a potentially optional, and more deadly encounter, offering far greater rewards.
- Darkness Limits and Level remain unchanged, scaling enemies each time you reach your limit.
- Players earn two new currencies:
Devotee's Burden. Earned after capping your Darkness Limit. These allow you to activate Rituals.- Luminous Orb. Earned after defeating a boss. These allow you to cleanse curses.
- Ritual Sites are located around the map. Players can spend 1 Devotee's Burden to activate them. These grant the player a Blessing and Detriment (these are functionally similar to the old curse buffs and debuffs). Players must also choose a Sacrifice, a temporary buff or loss of currency, to claim these blessings.
- Detriments you have are cleansed automatically when you receive a Luminous Orb. If you have a Luminous Orb when you access a ritual, it is spent automatically, automatically removing the detriment from your choices.
Darkness Curse and Limits[]
Your Darkness Curse Limit is displayed to the bottom right of your skill bar. At the start of the game, this will be a maximum of 40 by default, but can be permanently increased through the completion of Prophecies as you play further.
Defeating an enemy will increase your Curse amount by at least 1, but this may be higher if you have cursed modifiers on your equipment. Upon reaching your limit, the Darkness Level will increase and you will receive a Devotee's Burden.
Limit Increases via Prophecy[]
| Prophecy | Quest | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Black Dawn | Kill 50 enemies. | +5 Darkness Curse Limit |
| Dark Gates | You will enter the College of Sanctora | +5 Darkness Curse Limit |
| Grim Harvest | You will find 5 Stray Stars | +5 Darkness Curse Limit |
Darkness Level[]
Each time you fill your Darkness Limit, you will increase your darkness level, making enemies much stronger the longer your run goes on. Your current level is displayed via the small number to the very bottom right of your Curse Counter. Mousing over this number will display the current enemy modifiers that are in effect.
Rituals[]
Around the world, you will find Rituals. You can spend 1 Devotee's Burden to start a Ritual, which will offer you a 'Blessing' at the cost of both a 'Detriment', and a sacrifice.
Blessings & Detriments[]
A player must choose between one of two Blessings, granting powerful benefits. These also come with a 'Detriment', which is a strong debuff that can be cleansed by spending 1 
Luminous Orb. These orbs are obtained by defeating bosses. Cleansing a Detriment will not remove the Blessing you received.
- If you have a Luminous Orb when you activate a ritual, it will be consumed and the Blessings offered will not have a detriment.
- If you do not have an Orb when you activate the rituals, the Detriment will be applied to your character. If your character has Detriments upon defeating a boss, the Orb you obtain will be automatically spent and will remove a random Detriment on your character.
Sacrifices[]
To receive your chosen blessing, players must also then select a Sacrifice, which is either a temporary debuff to your stats, or a cost in either Hit Points or 
Coins. If the player feels the sacrifices are too punishing, they can cancel the ritual. Any currency already spent on the ritual will be lost, and the ritual location will be consumed regardless!
Ritual Locations[]
There are currently 6 Ritual locations, and each is one time use per run!
