Hello everyone!
This time, we'll go through some systems that will help you conquer the darkness of The Dark West.
In addition to the usual gear setup (gun, gloves, coat, etc.), you will also be able to equip cards.
Combining Poker and Tarot cards successfully will be the key to unlocking powerful and optimized builds.
The Card Bonus system grants powerful passive bonuses based on the cards you equip. Players can combine standard playing cards and special tarot cards to form poker hands. When a valid hand is created, it grants a bonus based on its rank. Only the highest-ranked hand currently formed will apply its effect. In addition to official poker hands, certain famous or folklore poker combinations (known as Unofficial Hands) can grant unique bonuses
Poker cards are equippable items that provide stats from a fixed pool of affixes. Each affix is tied to a suit, and its strength scales with the card’s rank, from the lowest (2) to the highest (Ace).
The Eight of Clubs can improve: Ward/Ward Renegeration/% Chance to not consume ammo/Chance to convert to specialized ammo on reload/%Resource/Resource Regeneration.
Official Poker Hands are combinations commonly found in Poker Texas Hold'em, like Two Pair or Full House:
Two Pair is a combination that grants 20% Increased Card Effect, unlocked when you have two different pairs of the same card.
Full House is even more powerful, giving you 40% Increased Card Effect, unlocked when you combine 3 cards of a kind with a different pair of cards.
Certain famous or folklore poker combinations, known as Unofficial Poker Hands, will give you unique boosts, like the Dead Man's Hand:
Based on the Old West folk hero Wild Bill Hickok, it consists of a combination of two pairs of black aces and black eights. This combination gives you 20% Increased Card Effect, 10% Increased Weapon Damage, and 5% Chance to grant ammo on kill.
These combinations will not be publicly available in the game guide for a while, meaning you'll be able to discover different unique combinations! We'll introduce even more combinations with time.
Tarot cards complement the Poker Hand system, unlocking even more powerful effects. Here you can see a few examples:
Lightning Storm adds projectile forks with variable angles, trading consistency for spread and coverage. Ideal for chaotic clearing builds:
+1 Projectile Fork
(+15% to -15%) Fork Angle°
(-10% to -15%) Less Global Projectile Damage
Cattle Herding increases knockdown duration, enhancing crowd control and enemy disruption potential.
(+120ms to 140ms) Knockdown Duration
Festering Wound makes enemies more aggressive and faster once engaged. Increases danger but improves pull density and combat pacing.
Increase enemy aggro radius by (+4m to +8m)
Increase enemy Movement Speed by 60% if Aggro'd Recently
Combining the Poker Hands with Tarot Cards will be essential to unlock the true potential of your character:
Here we can see the combination of Two Pairs with the Lightning Storm Tarot card, which results in a 20% stronger Lightning Storm.
How do you feel about this system? We hope you unlock powerful combinations and push your build to the limit with it!
Tune in next week for more from the world of The Dark West.
Don’t forget to check out our official Discord server, where you can help shape the game through polls and by sharing your feedback.
And if you haven’t yet, don’t forget to wishlist The Dark West!