Your guide to the dark

Controls

Moving and fighting

Use the on-screen joystick (mobile) or WASD / arrow keys (PC) to move your hero. Your hero attacks automatically when enemies are in range — no manual attack input required. Focus on positioning: staying out of enemy clusters and lining up your hero for maximum ability coverage is the core skill.

Active abilities are triggered by tapping or clicking their icon at the bottom of the screen. Each ability has a cooldown shown by a fill animation on the icon. Use abilities as soon as they are ready to keep damage output high.

Runs

How a run works

Each run follows the same structure: choose a hero, enter a level, and survive escalating waves of enemies. Between waves you are offered drops — ability upgrades, gear, or consumables. At the end of a level you face a boss. Defeating the boss completes that level and advances the run.

Runs are finite but challenging. If your hero dies, the run ends and you return to the hero selection screen. Gold and experience earned during the run carry over permanently to unlock upgrades for future attempts.

Modifiers

Cursed conditions

As you progress through levels, cursed modifiers are applied to runs. These modifiers change the conditions of play — enemies may move faster, deal more damage, regenerate health, or be shielded. Some modifiers stack across levels.

Modifiers are displayed at the start of each level so you can plan your ability and gear choices around the active conditions. Higher difficulty settings introduce more severe modifier combinations and increase rewards accordingly.

Skills & Abilities

Build your loadout

Your hero carries a set of active abilities into each run. During waves you collect ability orbs that offer upgrades: increase damage, reduce cooldown, add secondary effects, or unlock new synergies between your equipped abilities. Choose upgrades that reinforce your current build rather than spreading across unrelated abilities.

Inventory

Gear and equipment

Each hero has gear slots for a weapon, armor, helmet, ring, amulet, and staff. Items are found as drops during runs or purchased at the tavern between attempts. Every item provides stat bonuses and some carry special effects that synergise with specific heroes or ability builds.

Items have rarity tiers — higher rarity items provide stronger bonuses and more unique effects. Prioritise gear that matches the stat profile of your chosen hero. You can review the full item catalogue on the Inventory page.

Progression

Grow stronger between runs

Gold and experience earned during runs are kept permanently. Return to the tavern between runs to spend gold on permanent hero upgrades: increased base stats, unlocked ability slots, and passive bonuses that apply from the start of every future run.

New heroes are unlocked by reaching milestones in earlier runs. Each hero has its own progression tree, so investing in multiple heroes expands your strategic options across levels and modifier combinations.