Depending on the quality of the gear your character has in Dark and Darker, you may be matched with other players with similar gear.

This creates a level playing field for everyone, so no one new to the game will encounter a player decked out in legendary or unique items. With three brackets in total, you can be dropped whenever you start a normal run.

You can see two numerical figures in Dark and Darker at the bottom of your inventory screen. One is the amount of gold on your person and another is called Gear Score.

The number next to this is the score of all the gear you currently have, regardless of whether you have it equipped. Rarer weapons equal a higher Gear Score, and Dark and Darker use that to pit you against opponents of the same gear value to make matchmaking more fair.