Darkest Dungeon—the original—is getting surprise DLC in August

Darkest Dungeon: The Fire's Edge DLC screen.

More than 10 years after it launched, and six years after its last DLC, Darkest Dungeon—the original—is getting more. The Fire's Edge, revealed today by Red Hook Studios, brings two new and possibly familiar hero classes to the game, along with new Trinket mechanics and three new districts in the hamlet.

The Duelist and the Runaway join the game from Darkest Dungeons 2: The Dueliest is "a complex damage dealer that dances between the party’s ranks," while the Runaway brings the new Burn damage type to the table, "with high synergy for teams that like to utilize Stuns and Pull/Knockback/Shuffle effects." It sounds like they won't be direct copies of their DD2 counterparts, though, as Red Hook says they're a "re-visioning" of the characters for Darkest Dungeon.

The Fire’s Edge, the first new DLC for Darkest Dungeon since 2020, is releasing on August 18th.The Duelist and Runaway, heroes who debuted in Darkest Dungeon II, bring their unique abilities to bear against horrors that lurk beneath the manor.Wishlist now: store.steampowered.com/app/4964110/...

— @darkestdungeon.bsky.social ( @darkestdungeon.bsky.social.bsky.social ) 2026-07-21T16:07:49.751Z

Specifics on the rest are a bit thin at this point: "In addition to two new recruitable heroes, this DLC also introduces new combat mechanics, powerful trinkets, and additional Hamlet districts!"

Still, it's very cool that Red Hook has come back to its baby, a brutal dungeon crawler that we hailed as "a wonderfully executed, brilliantly stressful reinvention" of the genre in our 88% review—a stance we backed up by giving it the "Best RPG" award in our 2016 GOTYs.

(Image credit: Red Hook Studios)

Darkest Dungeon 2, by comparison, is quite good but not quite as good, and despite being significantly older Darkest Dungeon fans have largely stuck with the original on Steam. In that light, the new Fire's Edge DLC isn't really all that surprising: The people like what they like, and sometimes you just have to give 'em what they want.

Darkest Dungeon: The Fire's Edge is set to launch on August 18, and is up for wishlisting now on Steam.