7 Days to Die Mod Guide – Darkness Falls

Darkness Falls is one of the most popular overhaul mods among the 7 Days to Die community. Apart from providing a different experience, it also adds a layer of challenge unlike any other mod out there.

The team behind it has put a lot of heart and effort into making DF a product of high quality that has many well-thought-out elements and engaging mechanics.

If you’re looking to get a head start on playing Darkness Falls, then check out our guide below to get yourself fully prepared before you dive in.

What is Darkness Falls?

Darkness Falls is an overhaul mod that almost completely alters the 7 Days to Die core experience. The main concept is still there. You’re building up your base, exploring and gathering resources, crafting tools and weapons, and slaying hordes of zombies. What this mod adds to the mix, though, are elements that make the game more challenging.

In a nutshell, Darkness Falls aims to make the player more reliant on strategizing and planning. It achieves this by extending the early game longer. Some crafts are also locked behind particular classes and perks so your decisions from the get-go matter that much more. Finally, general exploration is far more dangerous, both during the day and at night.

What Makes Darkness Falls Different?

On the surface, Darkness Falls looks like most other overhaul mods. Some new zombies here, new mechanics there. And, to a degree, that’s pretty accurate.

However, this mod goes beyond simple additions. It turns 7D2D into a more hardcore game that’ll chew you up and spit you out more ways than you can count, and then some. Compared to War of the Walkers, for instance, it’s like polar opposites in terms of difficulty. WotW wants to give you all the options under the sun. Darkness Falls wants to be Dark Souls.

Darkness Falls Features

As with any overhaul mod, it’s all about the extra mechanics, items, and systems, and Darkness Falls packs a punch in that department.

Class System

One of the most obvious features this mod brings to the table is a class system. Each of the eight character types you can make has its own perks and items that are unique and non-transferable unless playing with others. To progress each class, you need to complete a series of six quests that reward you with skill points, items, and gear. Apart from one, each class can unlock Mastery perks that lead to unique recipes.

The Civilian class is as close to a blank slate-type character as you can get, and is probably the toughest way to play Darkness Falls. It has no Mastery and the items you get are all super basic. Definitely not a class for beginners.

The Farmer gains access to the mighty Blunderbuss after completing its fifth quest. By completing its Mastery path, you can get a bunch of recipes that’ll enhance your farming potential.

The Hunter class is a bit lighter on the Mastery recipes front with only a few weapon blueprints on offer. However, it’s the class that gains a fair bit of firepower as you progress through its quests.

The Laborer class is all about forging and crafting, so its rewards match what’s written on the tin. By mastering it, you’ll gain access to recipes for titanium structures and tools, the strongest in the game.

The Mechanic class focuses primarily on salvaging and engineering stuff, including vehicles. Among its mastery recipes, you learn how to make engines that lead to a 4×4 truck and a motorbike.

The Scientist class specializes in medication and keeping himself and your crew free from ailments. Pretty much all of the recipes you get from mastering it are for making antibiotics, painkillers, and other prescription stuff. Definitely, a class to support a multiplayer endeavor.

The Security class deals with heavy weapons and solid armor. It has several perks that allow it to soak up damage and manage large hordes of enemies so in some ways it’s like a tank class. Its Mastery leads to recipes for powerful titanium armor and a titanium spiked club.

Finally, the Survivalist class focuses on survival elements that can keep a group from dying by the elements. It’s not an incredibly rewarding class on its own but in multiplayer you’ll be glad you had one, especially because of the tools it gets early on.

More Bag Space

Darkness Falls is well aware that you like to hoard stuff. So, it gives you a much larger 96-slot backpack to lug stuff around. As a way to give you a better quality of life, too, the mod has a 12-slot crafting queue so you can line up your jobs and get more done.

Custom UI

Survival is at the forefront of 7 Days to Die and this mod hasn’t forgotten about its importance. As part of its feature set, Darkness Falls also includes a custom UI that comes with visible hunger and thirst meters. These appear next to your hotkey bar and will help you keep track of your levels.

Higher Challenge

Going anywhere in Darkness Falls is a precarious endeavor. However, nighttime is far more challenging. Enemies called ferals roam under the cover of night and will be on the prowl for you when you decide to take an evening stroll. There are also new, nastier zombies, such as the male and female Zombie Behemoths.

More Resources

Darkness Falls adds a slew of new resources for you to craft and build stuff that the vanilla 7D2D experience doesn’t have. Among these resources is Titanium, a new, higher tier of metal that can be used to craft some of the most durable tools and weapons in the game. The mod also adds five new workstations, including an Advanced Forge that needs no fuel to smelt. For cooking fans, there’s even Mortar and Pestle to grind down ingredients.

More Flexible Skill System

The skill system of the entire game is completely revamped in Darkness Falls. For starters, common books are also available in the perk system, meaning you have more than one option to learn new skills. There are also books for all 100 level skills that are available to classes. Finally, you can turn recipes you already own into skill notes that can then be crafted into something else.

Added Crafting & Farming Features

The mod introduces several new ways to craft and farm. You can now harvest tree sap by clicking onto dead trees while carrying empty containers. Extra crops can also now be grown, including apples, wheat, carrots, and tomatoes. Of course, this means there are also more options for food, including bread and even elaborate meals like Sunday Roast. Finally, you can also craft guns by using gun parts.

Enhanced Trader Systems

The Trader system also sees an overhaul in Darkness Falls. Your friendly neighborhood merchants are now just as much in danger as you are so you’ll need to ensure you protect them as much as possible. You can also, eventually, add guards to protect them and you’ll need to do that since Traders will also carry a good chunk of the basic materials you’ll typically need.

And More!

There are a lot more features that Darkness Falls adds to the 7D2D experience:

• New points of interest
• A new Trader called Caitlin with her own PoI
• Hordes ramp up faster for more challenge
• More craftable storage
• Lockpicking system
• Working amenities, such as sinks
• Increased zombie spawn rates
• …and more!

How to Install Darkness Falls

Darkness Falls can be installed on both the PC and Mac versions of 7 Days to Die. It’s compatible with A20 but it won’t work with EAC so you’ll need to turn it off.

PC

To install on a Windows PC, follow these steps:

1. Make a backup copy of your 7D2D folder just in case
2. Download the Darkness Falls mod pack
3. Unzip and copy the mods folder, icon, and Serverconfig.xml file into your 7D2D folder
4. Allow it to overwrite when you see the pop-up

You have now installed Darkness Falls and are ready to play.

MacOS

On Mac, things are slightly more complicated:

1. Uninstall 7D2D from your device by deleting its app folder
2. Reinstall 7D2D
3. Download and unzip the mod pack
4. Open your Steam client, right-click on 7D2D in your library and choose Properties
5. Choose Local Files and then Browse Local Files
6. Use copy-paste to add the Mods folder form the pack to the above location
7. Open the 7DaysToDie_Data folder from the mod pack and open Managed
8. Right-click the 7DaysToDie.app file and select Show Package Contents.
9. Open the Contents folder, then Resources, then Data, and, finally, Managed
10. Copy-paste the .dll files here and select Replace when prompted
11. Open the Data folders from both of the above locations
12. Each contains three folders called Config, Prefabs, and UMATextures
13. Drag and drop the mod contents into each of these folders and make sure you select Replace for all
14. Run 7 Days to Die

Darkness Falls Beginner Tips

If you’re not already aware by now, Darkness Falls is brutal and that means you’ll have a lot of trial and error to go through before you can make it through the game at a high progression level.

Here are a few tips to help make your life a bit easier (though don’t expect it to ever actually be easy!):

• A lot of foods have a high chance of causing you food poisoning so don’t go eating things before preparing them appropriately. Make sure you get a fire and pot going as soon as possible.
• The rain catcher is the easiest way to give your farms a much-needed irrigation system. Dig a hole in the soil, throw in your rain catcher, and your crops will be irrigated within a 4-block radius.
• Your weapons can become even better with mods. Before tossing out a gun in favor of a different one, see if you can craft any mods that’ll beef it up further.
• Horde Nights on Day 7 can be extremely brutal in this mod. The best way to deal with them is to be prepared. Stock up on explosives, ammo, and tons of healing items.
• The Crowbar is the best way to bust open safes, just like in the movies!
• Do your class quests as soon as possible. They provide valuable resources as well as free skill points.
• Fruit trees are super easy to plant as they require no tilling or irrigation. They’ll be a great source of nourishment early on.
• Locate the Wasteland biome quickly to find Trader Caitlin as her wares are extremely valuable and will give you a better fighting chance.

Best Servers to Play Darkness Falls

Now that you’ve built up your knowledge of Darkness Falls, you’ll likely want to dive into some servers and give the mod a go. You can set up a Darkness Falls Server using our ‘one-click modpack installer’.

Official Mod Page by Khaine

Also see: New features in v4.