Dark Mode is a new difficulty level introduced with Patch 2.0 for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. 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 usable upon death. Under this setting, each and every foe represents a significant challenge. In addition to raising the difficulty bar, the module 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.
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. You'll need to spend a lot of money and crafting ingredients, so you might wish to prepare for that. 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 1996 orens (Armor 801, Boots 101, Gauntlets 161, Trousers 131, Anathema 401, Ultimatum 401). Money required to craft them equals 515 coins (150 + 25 + 40 + 40 + 135 + 125, respectively). Which amounts to 2511 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 ore
- 5x Diamond dust
- 4x Amethyst dust
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 witcher's fallen foes to generate the funds to acquire all the ingredients for the armor set.
The Oathbreaker's Outfit[]
To craft the armor set, visit Lasota, the Kaedweni blacksmith in the camp (Roche's path) or Mael (Iorveth's path). You'll need to spend a lot of money and crafting ingredients, so you might wish to prepare for that. 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 required 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 ore
- 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
An easy and very fast way to obtain the Oathbreaker's Outfit and weapons in the second chapter, Roche's path, is to 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. This is a quick way to make money and obtain all the items for the outfit. You can also challenge Adam Pangratt to arm wrestling matches for a max of 100 orens. There doesn't seem to be a 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 and are well advised to reload from the autosave prior to the fight.
The Kinslayer's Outfit[]
The diagrams of the Kinslayer's Outfit, scattered throughout Loc Muinne. You'll need to spend a lot of money and crafting ingredients, so you might wish to prepare for that. There are six items that comprise the whole armor set:
The total cost of diagrams is 6306 orens Armor 3501, Boots 271, Gauntlets 301,Trousers 631, Weeper 801, Mourner 801). Money required 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 ore
- 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
The only way to generate money indefinitely in this chapter is killing gargoyles. 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.