Dark Mode

Dark Mode is a new difficulty level which was introduced with for . It is described as similar in difficulty to the "Insane" mode while allowing the player to save their game. It also comes with three sets of special "Dark Mode" armor and weapons, listed below.
== Difficulty level ==
The 'Dark' difficulty setting is the most demanding difficulty level in gameplay terms besides Insane, which features similar difficulty but with saves becoming unusable upon death.
Under this setting, each and every foe represents a significant challenge. In addition to raising the difficulty bar, the mode includes several new sets of equipment/items that are linked through a dark legend detailed in the Journal.
Once all their components have been collected and donned, the Blasphemer's, Oathbreaker's and Kinslayer's outfits provide great advantages in combat. The swords included in the outfits strip opponents of Vitality while supplementing the witcher's. However, given that they are cursed, the swords provide no benefit and harm Geralt by sapping him of Vitality as long as the outfits to which they belong remain incomplete.
Tips for Crafting the Dark Mode Exclusive Outfits: 
* You'll need to spend a lot of Orens and crafting ingredients, so you might wish to prepare for that.
* Stock studded leather for chapter II Oathbreaker set if you are doing Iorveth path.
* Storing silver ores is also recommended since their refreshing rate in Chapter II is quite low compared to Chapter I.
* Each set has a difficult to acquire ingredient that may delay the ability to craft a full set. See the articles on each ingredient for tips on where to find them:
** For Blasphemer's Outfit the most difficult ingredient is Yellow meteorite ore (While not as problematic as the following 2 it may cause huge additional expenses if you are unable to find the required amount).
** For Oathbreaker's Outfit the most difficult ingredient is Draugir armor fragment.
** For Kinslayer's Outfit the most difficult ingredient is Dragon scales.
Notes:
* When drawn, the swords in each outfit emit a screen effect which darkens your screen and removes some of the color. It is coupled with "demonic" hum sound effect. This effect is removed in cutscenes.
* It is actually possible to use incomplete sets by replacing both Silver and Steel swords for other ones of your choice (except for those from a different cursed set of course). However, there is little to no sense in doing so, as apart from The Blasphemer's Outfit crafting the armor is usually the hard part, not to mention you will not gain the vampiric effect using other swords.
* The health gain is directly linked to the damage Geralt deals when striking foes with the swords. Meaning the more damage he deals the more health he gains, strong attacks will restore more health than fast attacks, a Riposte will restore even more, on the other hand if you use the wrong sword like silver against bandits and deal minimum damage the health gain will also become minute. The effect does not actually steal life from the enemies Geralt strikes, as even if the opponent has almost no health bar left Geralt will still gain health accordingly to the damage he deals for the fatal blow.
** Because it is impossible to know the exact amount of health Geralt has, apart from his full health bar, it is difficult to say the exact amount of health he gains with each strike. However, it appears to be somewhere between 33-50% of the damage he deals.
** Since the health gain is directly linked to the damage dealt, using upgrades that directly boost the damage, like Power mutagens will also boost the health gain. Also since all 3 steel swords from each set have a single upgrade slot and each has a chance to cause bleeding the best upgrade for them is clearly the Ysgith rune, as it will give the highest damage boost and also boost the bleeding effect.
== The Blasphemer's Outfit ==
This armor set is attainable only while playing on Dark difficulty level in Chapter I. To craft the armor set, visit Berthold Candeleria, the dwarven blacksmith in Flotsam.
There are six items that comprise the whole armor set:
* Blasphemer's armor
* Blasphemer's boots
* Blasphemer's gauntlets
* Blasphemer's trousers
* Anathema
* Ultimatum
The total cost of diagrams is 1756 orens (Armor 564, Boots 101, Gauntlets 161, Trousers 131, Anathema 401, Ultimatum 401). Money needed to craft them equals 515 coins (150 + 25 + 40 + 40 + 135 + 125, respectively). Which amounts to 2314 orens in total (not counting materials you may have to buy, as listed below).
To completely construct all items you will also need
* 5x Timber
* 16x Iron ore
* 12x Silver ore
* 16x Hardened leather
* 20x Studded leather
* 20x Robust cloth
* 4x Twine
* 9x Nekker teeth
* 8x Nekker claws
* 5x Endrega hide
* 2x Endrega venom
* 2x Yellow meteorite
* 5x Diamond dust
* 4x Amethyst dust
Oren Farming Tips:
* A good way to earn enough money to afford said materials is to not complete the side quest: The Nekker contract. Instead of destroying the nest with a grapeshot outright, just keep visiting them periodically. You can then sell the organs from the monsters to generate the funds to acquire all the ingredients for the armor set.
* In similar manner you can farm endregas before completing The Endrega Contract - saving game and reloading causes all endregas near their nests respawn.
* Repeatedly participate in brawling or arm wrestling competitions at the inn.
== The Oathbreaker's Outfit ==
This armor set is attainable only while playing on Dark difficulty level in Chapter II. To craft the armor set, visit Lasota, the Kaedweni blacksmith in the camp (Roche's path) or Mael (Iorveth's path).
There are six items that comprise the whole armor set:
* Oathbreaker's armor
* Oathbreaker's boots
* Oathbreaker's gauntlets
* Oathbreaker's trousers
* Virgin
* Black Unicorn
The total cost of diagrams is 3836 orens (Armor 1501, Boots 201, Gauntlets 201, Trousers 551, Virgin 751, Black Unicorn 631). Money needed to craft them equals 1190 coins (550 + 70 + 60 + 135 + 200 + 175, respectively). Which amounts to 5026 orens in total (not counting materials you may have to buy, as listed below).
To completely construct all items you will also need:
* 7x Amethyst dust
* 2x Blue meteorite
* 3x Diamond dust
* 1x Draugir armor fragment
* 4x Essence of death
* 18x Hardened leather
* 6x Harpy feathers
* 16x Iron ore
* 20x Robust cloth
* 14x Silver ore
* 20x Studded leather
* 5x Timber
* 10x Twine
Oren Farming Tips:
* Farm Harpies - On your way to the Visionary's house (Northeast of the Kaedweni Camp) you get attacked by several of them. They will simply respawn by stepping into the circle of candles, in front of the house, and stepping back out. Similarly in Iorveth's path, as long as you don't destroy their nests, the harpies will continue to respawn in the gully. Harpie feathers can be sold for 9 orens each, the rest of the drops for 4 orens.
* Challenge Adam Pangratt to arm wrestling matches for a max of 100 orens. There is no limit to the number of times you can challenge him so long as you have a minimum of 50 orens. However, he will only accept your challenge once you've advanced far enough in Bring it on: Kaedweni Camp.
NOTE: The draugir armor fragment can be picked up right at the start of Chapter 2 during the fight to protect King Henselt from the curse. If it is not collected there, players on Iorveth's path can collect it from the draugir encountered during the journey to the other side of the mist. Players on Roche's path who miss it early in chapter 2 are out of luck until they cross the mist for the Symbol of Hatred quest, and are well advised to reload from the autosave prior to the fight. In aforementioned quest, the draugir armor fragment is dropped by the bullvore you encounter after crossing the mist in the labyrinth cave maze before meeting Zoltan Chivay and Saskia underneath Vergen.
== The Kinslayer's Outfit ==
This armor set is attainable only while playing on Dark difficulty level in Chapter III. To craft the armor set, visit Bras of Ban Ard. There are six items that comprise the whole armor set:
* Kinslayer's armor
* Kinslayer's boots
* Kinslayer's gauntlets
* Kinslayer's trousers
* Weeper
* Mourner
The total cost of diagrams is 6306 orens (Armor 3501, Boots 271, Gauntlets 301, Trousers 631, Weeper 801, Mourner 801). Money needed to craft them equals 1625 coins (750 + 100 + 100 + 150 + 250 + 275, respectively). Which amounts to 7931 orens in total (not counting the materials you may have to buy, as listed below).
To completely construct all items you will also need:
* 2x Blue Meteorite
* 1x Dragon scales
* 4x Elemental Stone
* 2x Essence of death
* 9x Gargoyle dust
* 28x Hardened leather
* 8x Harpy feathers
* 2x Harpy saliva
* 18x Iron ore
* 4x Leather
* 26x Robust cloth
* 14x Silver ore
* 8x Studded leather
* 4x Timber
* 1x Troll tongue
* 12x Twine
Oren Farming Tips:
* To generate money indefinitely in this chapter kill gargoyles or the harpies that spawn in the entrance to Loc Muinne. Gargoyles only spawn in three areas where the basement with the rune puzzles are. The gargoyles will not follow you down the stairs and you can meditate there for a few hours for them to respawn.
* If you farm the harpies kill them and meditate twenty-four hours to respawn them. Sell their drops to make a fair sum.
* Farm Harpies in Chapter 2 by the Visionary's hut
* Arm wrestling or Poker
== Videos ==
File:The Witcher 2 Dark Mode Trailer (New and Improved PC Version 2.0)
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Category:The Witcher 2
Category:The Witcher 2 character development