The Darkness (A-50) Is one of the 14 Entities in Rooms & Doors. It only appears inside of hiding places.
Appearance
Currently, The Darkness appears as a red eye coming closer to the screen every time the heartbeat sound is played. The Darkness previously did not have an in-game appearance, as it was never directly seen.
Mechanics
Players will disturb The Darkness if they hide inside of a hiding spot for too long. When it has been disturbed, the hider will hear whispering that gradually gets louder and louder. At a certain point, it will start to damage the player until they exit the hiding spot or die. Assuming you're using the regular flashlight, you can temporarily stop The Darkness from damaging you by turning your flashlight on. However, this drains your flashlight's batteries and only works once until you exit the hiding spot. The amount of time it takes for The Darkness to be disturbed gets smaller the further players get in their run when they get past A-50.
If The Darkness is attacking a player in a locker, you can use your flashlight to mitigate the attack. The Darkness will return very quickly if it's attack is avoided this way, and will continue disappearing and reappearing multiple times until your flashlight runs out of battery or you disable it. The Gummy Flashlight doesn't mitigate the attack and therefore is useless when attempting to prevent an attack from The Darkness.
If Kalypto attacks a player who is hidden within a locker, it gives The Darkness the advantage of killing the player, due to the player being unable to exit the locker until Kalypto stops blocking it.
Before A-500, if A-120, A-200 or A-200' are active, The Darkness temporarily disappears and does not attack the player until after A-120, A-200, or A-200' leaves. However, after A-500, The Darkness will always appear, even if A-120, A-200 or A-200' is active.
The Darkness will not attack a player under a table, it is not a bug due to its journal entry saying that it "lurks in enclosed spaces."
How to Avoid
Only hide in spots if an aggressive entity is coming, and, depending on how far you are into your run, you should time when you enter your hiding spot. Timing when you hide is crucial for not getting damaged by The Darkness, as hiding too early can severely injure or even get you killed before any hostile entities can get you.
If The Darkness is about to attack you, but have the regular flashlight, you can temporarily stop The Darkness from killing you by turning your flashlight on as it attacks, and displaying "Your Light Wards Off The Darkness" This will force your flashlight into its low-battery state, and the batteries will need to be replaced, so this should only be done if you cannot get out of the locker without dying. This strategy will not work with the Gummy Flashlight.
Unless you have to, do not hide in lockers when Kalypto is active. This will give The Darkness a chance to kill the player during the time that the locker is blocked. To avoid this, hide under a table instead, if available. If this is not possible, you can either turn on your flashlight and scare The Darkness away or hide in a locker, risking getting damaged unless you time getting inside the locker correctly.
Before A-500, it is safe to hide in a locker early when A-120, A-200, or A-200' are active, as The Darkness does not attack you. After A-500, The Darkness will now attack, forcing you to juggle going out and in of your locker until A-200, A-120 orA-200' disappears.
Trivia
- The Darkness' journal entry notes the entity with: "You can hear its whispers", "Lurks in confined areas", "Omnipresent" and "HATES LIGHT".
- "Omnipresent" refers to how it can attack anybody from any locker.
- "HATES LIGHT" refers to how players can temporarily stop it from damaging them, assuming they're using the regular flashlight and if it has already begun damaging them.
- The Darkness's victims seemingly dissapear out of existence.
- Interestingly, the scribbles on The Darkness' journal entry in the death screen seem to be solid black when in-game, but the actual image allows you to see the true depiction of it.
- The Darkness was still present in the now reverted B-Sector.
- The Darkness number coded alternative name, A-50, comes from the complete absence of light upon the player reaching Room 50.
- The Darkness can still attack in Safe rooms,and A-999. (regardless those rooms having lights.)
- The Darkness functions very similar to Hide from DOORS.
- The Darkness used to attack players under a table, however, this was removed because it says darkness attacks in confined spaces and a table isn't a confined space.
Bugs
- If A-200 despawns and if players are still hiding in a locker, The Darkness will instantly attack players, without any warnings or pre-damages. This doesn't happen if A-200' is present though.
- Exactly like the previous bug, if A-200' despawns and if players are still hiding in a locker, The Darkness will instantly attack players, without any warnings or pre-damages.
Gallery
Footage
A player dying to The Darkness in a locker.
Older footage of a player dying to The Darkness in a locker.
Older footage of a player dying to The Darkness under a table.(This is no longer possible, as The Darkness is no longer able to appear under tables).
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