Red Hook Studios’ Darkest Dungeon will be receiving a major new update today, introducing PvP combat to the punishing dungeon crawler. The Butcher’s Circus allows players to assemble teams to face each other to earn new banner components and trinkets. These are separate from the main campaign so there’s no risk of perma-death.
Other differences for these heroes include fixed stats and the inability to upgrade equipment. In a neat twist, Stress can be inflicted on enemy players during combat, which adds a whole new dimension to battle tactics. You can use DLC characters in PvP but the corresponding DLC pack will have to be owned.
The Butcher’s Circus will be free and includes anti-cheat (which players can opt out of if they have no interest in the PvP). The update will be available for Steam players only but stay tuned for more details on its release for consoles later. In the meantime, those who have never experienced the trauma of Darkest Dungeon can try it out for free from today till June 1st. The base game will also be on sale at a 75 percent discount.