Darkest Dungeon's Shape-Shifting Abomination Class
Now even heroes are monsters?
Sure, your mighty heroes might have already become quivering wrecks who run screaming when they see a spider in the bathtub, but Darkest Dungeon [official site] can get darker yet. The fab roguelikelike (#34 on our list of best RPGs!) is still in Early Access, meaning more horrors and nasties are sure to come. Some of them might join your party. The 'Inhuman Bondage' update (ooh that's dark!) this week added the new Abomination class, who can switch between human and beast form. Your party may not be wholly thrilled about that transformation.
The Abomination was designed by a Kickstarter backer. Oh, what mind could be darker than a Kickstarter backer's! Developers Red Hook Studios explain the Abomination:
"A brooding and desperate man, the Abomination has been outcast, branded and imprisoned due to the 'sickness' that lies within him. Completely unlike any other hero to wander into the Hamlet thus far, the Abomination can switch between two forms during combat: human and beast. Each form has different combat skills, so you'll need to figure out the strengths of each. But beware: the Abomination unsettles religious heroes so much that they refuse to serve with him. Additionally, the emergence of a beast in combat is a stressful event for other party members! Fortunately, they recover somewhat when the Abomination returns to his brooding (but human) self."
The patch notes also detail two new Kickstarter-designed enemies, The Collector and The Madman. Would rather not know what The Collector collects. But who collects The Collectors? You'll also find the patch notes go on about higher stress in high-level missions, a revision of heart attacks to tone down the insta-death, permanent debuffs for people who almost die, class balance tweaks, fixes, and other odds and ends. If you go delving into dungeons, you'll probably want to read about these before playing.
Darkest Dungeon is due to properly launch on January 19th. Also, hey! You've got just over an hour to get it cheap in the Steam sale.
