Remnant 2: The Dark Horizon DLC takes players to N'Erud's agriculture district

Remnant 2 has moved from strength to strength since its release last year and now the team at Gunfire Games is preparing to deliver the final of three DLCs. The Dark Horizon DLC will take players back to N’Erud to experience a new part of the planet while also adding a new Archetype, the Warden. In addition to the premium DLC, there is a free update coming that adds a Boss Rush mode along with an overhaul to the Fragment system.

Ahead of The Dark Horizon’s release on September 24, 2024, I got to have a chat with Cindy To, Principal Level Designer, and Ben “Tragic” Cureton, Principal Designer, in a hands-off preview of this third and final premium DLC for Remnant 2. Suffice it to say, it’s looking like Gunfire Games has knocked it out of the park with both the paid content and the free stuff for all players.

As usual, Gunfire Games has made it easy for players to experience the latest bit of content. Each player will be able to launch directly into the DLC where all of the dungeons, bosses, and goodies will be entirely new. After completing this one-shot run, the content will be dispersed into the pre-existing N’Erud biome.

It’s immediately obvious that the team has pulled out all the stops to make this an impactful final DLC. The new N’Erud region is huge, featuring a level of verticality not seen before in the other biomes. Cureton stood looking over the edge of a cliff where below we could see rocky outcroppings, caves to explore, strange artifacts, and updrafts roiling above the planet’s sea.

These updrafts are needed, as The Dark Horizon introduces the glider for players to navigate the area. At specific points on ledges, players can find a spawner that spits out a glider. Interacting with this will let players slowly glide over the area to reach distant locations. Cureton was tricky with his camerawork so as to avoid revealing too much as he glided over the sea, but I saw several potential places to explore that will no doubt hide one of the dozens of new gear pieces for players to find.

Cureton missed the ledge he was aiming for, but some quick thinking on Cindy’s behalf saw him aim at an updraft to get propelled back into the air to reach his destination. After fighting some of the new N’Erudian foes (think Half-Life Combine forces), Cureton made it to a boss fight. This hulking humanoid had an engorged hand that had some sort of black hole ability and, after knocking its health low, a second one popped up. As Cureton put it, Remnant 2 wouldn’t be Dark-Souls-with-guns if they didn’t have players fighting two bosses at once.

With my breath positively baited by the short glimpse of N’Erud, the preview shifted gears into the Boss Rush mode. This free mode will be launching alongside the paid DLC. Players will be able to choose between three different variants, each with their own number of randomly selected bosses to fight. The goal here is to create a few different duration options for players to jump into. Got a whole evening session planned? Then try out the 18 boss version, crank the difficulty way up, and see if you can reach the final boss.

While you’ll be taking your own build into Boss Rush, there is also a roguelite element to it. Throughout the runs, there are pylons you can find that grant a stat boost for the duration of the attempt. For those that are hoping to skirt by on a pure DPS build, you might want to consider exploring other build options, as your healing will be quite limited.

The Boss Rush mode is also an answer to a new mechanic that the team is quite proud of – and rightfully so. Fragments have been completely overhauled. Several Fragments have been removed (ones literally no one used) and several more have been added in. Now there is a dedicated Fragment screen with Fragments set out in a radial format.

There’s also a new Prism feature within the Fragment screen. Dwell will sell players their first Prism (there are a total of seven to earn and collect) and this Prism is a container into which to pour your EXP. Level it up, and you get to select a Fragment to put into one of its five slots. Fill all five and you’ll be focusing on upgrading each one to their maximum level. This effectively let’s players have eight Fragments going at once.

But wait, it gets better. Some of the Fragments can be combined into a special Fragment. Cureton showed me the health and stamina ones turning into a single new one called Hulk. What this now means is you could potentially fill out all five Prism slots with these new double-Fragment offerings, giving you 13 Fragments at once.

But wait, there’s more. Completely level up a Prism and you earn the privilege of a Legendary Fragment. These are absurdly powerful. One looked to increase damage dealt and received by 100 percent, another offered a considerable health and stamina boost, but the one Cureton selected increased heat decay rate by a significant amount, which suited his new Warden Archetype build perfectly.

The idea here is to give players another thread to chase and a reason to gather EXP. The developers noted that players tend to opt for the best farming methods, so the goal was to offer a new activity with great EXP gains to help level up the Prism, and so we get Boss Rush.

As for the Warden Archetype, this is the ultimate support or DPS role. It’s got a neat drone that can do one of three things: continually recharge your shield, offer heals, or increase damage output. Better yet, it can be cast onto an ally, giving them the benefit instead. It also has no health to worry about, so you won’t be trying to revive it like you would the Handler’s dog.

The Dark Horizon preview wrapped up with Cureton and Cindy revealing that there is an extremely cool new addition to the World Stone themed weapons. Remember Savior and World’s Edge? Prepare your builds because it sounds like there’s another one you’re going to want to chase.

With a whole new section of N’Erud to explore and the Warden Archetype to unlock and level, along with the Boss Rush mode and Fragment overhaul, The Dark Horizon DLC looks to perfectly round out the Remnant 2 experience. Personally, I can’t wait to dive in and see what sort of overpowered combos I can get on my Prism and test out my builds in Boss Rush. You can expect The Dark Horizon to release on September 24, 2024 on PC, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5.

This preview is based on a hands-off demonstration provided by the publisher.

Sam Chandler

Guides Editor

Hailing from the land down under, Sam Chandler brings a bit of the southern hemisphere flair to his work. After bouncing round a few universities, securing a bachelor degree, and entering the video game industry, he's found his new family here at Shacknews as a Guides Editor. There's nothing he loves more than crafting a guide that will help someone. If you need help with a guide, or notice something not quite right, you can message him on X: @SamuelChandler