This D&D Dark Alliance Patch Notes V1.16 Breakdown covers the major changes that have been implemented in the game, which partially changes Combat and multiplayer latency, to name a few. This is the first major patch since Dark Alliance’s launch, so you may want to know what they’ve changed!
D&D Dark Alliance Patch Notes V1.16 Breakdown: New Changes And What We Want To See Next
Since we’re on the topic of combat, we’ll first discuss the improvements for the controversial camera lock-on and enemy AI tethering.
D&D Dark Alliance Combat
D&D Dark Alliance Camera Lock-On
Camera lock-on has significantly improved such that your character’s line of sight adjusts to your FOV settings. The camera will no longer zoom into the target at the atomic level so you can still see the rest of the enemies in your peripheral vision as long as the FOV has a high value. That said, I would have preferred a more flexible option where the lock-on would also adjust based on how your camera angle is set up. So for example, if you prefer to fight and to latch onto enemies from a top-down perspective, you’ll be able to do so. What still happens now is that the entire camera angle shifts so you fight against enemies at the same eye level as your Character.
What I did notice however is when you and the enemy are on different elevations, the camera sometimes defaults back to the old settings where it would zoom in and effectively skew your peripheral vision. I do hope to see an even more optimized version in the future because it will definitely improve the gameplay experience. Nobody wants to be blindsided by a bunch of dwarves in hot and dark caverns.
D&D Dark Alliance Enemy AI Tethering
Contrary to what has been reported in the patch, enemy AI tethering continues to be problematic. To test this, I’ve been playing in The Mask of Kelvin Act 1 using Catti-Brie to check how far her position should be to lock onto enemies in order to successfully hit them. Similar to the original release, you can fire arrows from a distance and these foes won’t even go near you. However, there’s a tiny bit of improvement such that after shooting several arrows, camera lock-on becomes inactive and some ranged enemies like Goblin Archers start to become aware of your presence.
Moreover, for the other melee enemies, they would approach you in the hopes of attacking but they don’t have the ability to cross an invisible boundary or to cut their leash from the area to do so. And unfortunately, this breaks the immersion and supposedly challenging gameplay of Dark Alliance.
Enemy AI tethering is still a major issue that needs to be immediately addressed especially for Catti-Brie. I’m looking to see whether or not the team improves this soon in the hopes of making all enemy types more attuned to their surroundings.
D&D Dark Alliance Other Updates
In addition to the patch notes, some changes that have not been listed include the free D&D Dark Alliance upgrade from PS4 to PS5, and the loot retention fix. Loot retention was a major bug where all of the loot you get for a specific Mission gets carried over until you complete it, regardless of the Challenge Ratings you chose to partake in.
What this meant was you could do a run at a higher Challenge Rating, go back to the camp once you get more rare gear, and then finish the mission at lower difficulties to get all of the loot. Now, this has been fixed and loot disappears altogether for any unfinished mission.
Other bug fixes include the improvements made to multiplayer latency and responsiveness so players should experience better combat encounters with their friends. Progression also pushes through when you respawn right after your group kills a boss. Lastly, voice chat remains active once you return to Kelvin’s Cairn.
D&D Dark Alliance Improvements We Want To See Next
D&D Dark Alliance Patch Notes v1.16 should have been a patch filled with specific details of the changes the developers have implemented. Instead, we’ve received a very short summary. You may have noticed I didn’t include the balance changes as well as the supposed improvements to the user interface since these weren’t expounded upon in this round of updates. It would be quite difficult for players to recognize these changes unless they’ve played countless hours before and after this patch’s implementation.
With regard to balance changes, I didn’t notice significant alterations other than some encounters seem to be a bit more challenging. Catti-Brie’s problematic stamina continues to be an issue so it remains a mystery exactly what these gameplay updates really are. Similarly, I’ve checked the user interface while in Kelvin’s Cairn and in missions yet I can’t exactly pinpoint what these notable changes pertain to.
Both updates are just some of the gripes I’ve had with the recent patch. I do wish that Tuque Games has been more vocal after D&D Dark Alliance’s release, similar to how they’ve handled their dev diaries in the past. Back then, they provided sufficient information with regard to making the game from scratch as well as the hurdles they had to overcome.
D&D Dark Alliance Crossplay Feature
At the moment, Xbox and PC players are able to play together however, there are no plans yet to extend this level of support to PS4 and PS5 players. Given that the game’s strength lies in the multiplayer mode, I hope the developers would move this crossplay feature up in their list together with couch co-op support.
D&D Dark Alliance Loot Rarity
At certain checkpoints in D&D Dark Alliance after fighting against groups of enemies, you encounter the option to perform a Short Rest in order to replenish HP, stamina, Abilities and Useables or to take the loot rarity bonus. The latter increases the chances of successfully acquiring more rare and powerful gear. However, since the game’s launch, this bonus hasn’t been felt much by players, myself included.
I think this could definitely be tuned further so we can get better loot, especially at higher Challenge Ratings, which would make the gameplay experience worthwhile. Since you’re exchanging Short Rests for loot bonuses, it follows that the Equipment you obtain should be of the same value as what you’re giving up.
D&D Dark Alliance Animation Canceling
To this day, animation in combat is still an issue because this could mean life or death for your character. Most notably, it’s evident when you play as Wulfgar, who has the longest action animation out of the other three companions. Because of this, he’s more susceptible to taking a lot of damage.
Hopefully in the next patch, we see improvements to animation canceling similar to what has been implemented in Biomutant where using dodge cancels actions even though its corresponding animation is still ongoing. As a result, it would make combat less frustrating in critical moments because you’ll be able to avoid enemy attacks from pushing through, instead of waiting for your character’s animation to end.
I still believe D&D Dark Alliance has the potential to make a comeback but the game will need a major overhaul that isn’t limited to combat. What are your thoughts about this recent patch? What updates are you eager to see next? Let us know in the comments section below!
Stay tuned for more D&D Dark Alliance content and be sure to check out our Dungeons & Dragons Dark Alliance Wiki and Twitch Channel if you have any questions on the game.
Interested in guides and our thoughts about this game? Check out our Dungeons & Dragons Dark Alliance Beginner’s Guide: Top 10 Tips You Should Know Before You Play and Dark Alliance Review Impressions: Is it worth it? Should you buy the Dungeons & Dragons ARPG?
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