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Dungeon Settlers Patch Notes - v0.4.23 Changes & Player Impact
Dungeon Settlers patch notes for v0.4.23: update your old party, combat, research, crafting, and storage assumptions before starting the next run. Rank 2 expeditions now allow up to 6 members, Rank 3 allows up to 8, Normal and Easy reduce Active Skill Energy costs, and high-management-difficulty research work is lower. The official notes were published on September 12, 2026; this page summarizes player-facing changes without treating every balance value as an in-game test.
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FAQ
What is the biggest v0.4.23 change?
Expedition size is now rank-based: the official notes list up to 6 members at Rank 2 and up to 8 at Rank 3. The old four-member planning frame is no longer a universal late-game limit.
Did v0.4.23 change Active Skill costs?
Yes. The official notes reduce Active Skill Energy costs by 25% on Normal and 50% on Easy. Skills that can damage allies also have Auto Use disabled by default.
What changed for Research on harder management difficulties?
The notes reduce the Research Work Amount multiplier on Very Hard from 1.33× to 1.15× and on Devastation from 1.66× to 1.30×.
Can I keep using an older Dungeon Settlers guide?
Use older guides for stable interface concepts, but recheck party size, skill costs, Bow and Greatsword balance, Soulstone merchant rules, research work, and crafting controls against v0.4.23 before copying a route.
What should I update before the next expedition?
First, replace any guide text that treats four members as the permanent expedition ceiling. The official v0.4.23 notes make the ceiling depend on Expedition Rank: Rank 2 supports up to six members and Rank 3 supports up to eight. Your current setup screen still decides which rank you have reached, so do not recruit or equip extra members before the game makes the slot available.
Second, check your combat assumptions. Normal reduces Active Skill Energy costs by 25% and Easy by 50%; skills that can damage allies now start with Auto Use disabled. Reopen the Auto Skills panel before a fight and manually enable only the skills whose friendly-fire behavior you understand.
Third, reopen Research before planning a long unlock. Very Hard and Devastation use lower Research Work Amount multipliers in this patch, so an old time or workload expectation may make the next technology look farther away than it is.
Party, skills and equipment changes
The update also changes the balance context for ranged and melee builds. Greatsword accuracy penalties are reduced, several Spear attacks deal more damage, and Bow attack values are reduced across listed materials. Read the current equipment and skill tooltips before copying a ranged damage recommendation from an older page.
Several control effects last longer, including Stun and Immobilizing effects in the listed changes. Rapid Fire, Sniping Shot, Sharp Shooter, Two Hand Grip, and many other skills also received targeted adjustments. This page does not publish a new tier list: use the patch to identify what must be retested, then compare the role your current expedition actually needs.
When a skill can damage allies, keep Auto Use off until you have watched its area and trigger. A manual cast is slower, but it prevents a balance update from turning an old automatic routine into friendly fire.
| Area | v0.4.23 change | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Active Skills | Energy cost −25% Normal / −50% Easy | Recheck the next cast window on your difficulty |
| Auto Use | Friendly-fire skills default OFF | Review each skill before entering combat |
| Expedition size | 6 at Rank 2 / 8 at Rank 3 | Follow the current rank screen before adding members |
| Weapons | Spear, Greatsword and Bow values changed | Use current tooltips instead of an old tier list |
Research, crafting and storage changes
On Very Hard, the Research Work Amount multiplier changes from 1.33× to 1.15×; on Devastation it changes from 1.66× to 1.30×. The practical move is to open the Research screen and read the displayed work before changing your priority, rather than preserving a difficulty rule from v0.4.19.
Crafting quantities can now be entered directly, and Shift + Click adjusts quantities in increments of 10. Multiple storage containers of the same type can also be selected together to change policies, including item permissions and durability ranges. If an older guide tells you to queue every item one by one, try the current controls first.
Trading also rechecks quantities, Gold, receiving space, weight, and other conditions at confirmation. Leave room in the intended member’s inventory and keep the buyer within the current trade range when purchasing inside a dungeon.
Soulstones, prayer and recovery
Soulstones can once again be purchased from dungeon merchants in Regions 1 and 2 when the corresponding stone or Soul Trait is not already present. The official notes add conditions: the monster must have been defeated during the campaign, the stone cannot exist in the settlement or dungeon, and no living member can have the matching Soul Trait. Treat the merchant as a conditional recovery route, not a guaranteed shop inventory.
The Lock Consecration Results setting is separated and available on all Management Difficulty levels, including during an ongoing campaign. Reopen the prayer interface if an older guide says the option is limited to a particular difficulty.
The patch also changes surgery eligibility for living units in a Deadly injury state and adds tooltips around retirement. These are safety checks: read the current state before deciding whether to rescue, operate, retire, or return.
How should I read this update with older pages?
Use v0.4.23 as the current official patch boundary, then keep older database rows clearly labeled when they have not been rechecked. The site’s room, food, housing, item, and dungeon tables may still use a non-official DS_B.0.4.19 snapshot; those values are references, not evidence that v0.4.23 kept every number unchanged.
When a guide conflicts with the current UI, keep the action that the current screen confirms and record the changed field: party slot, cost, multiplier, recipe, room condition, or skill value. Update the page only after the change is tied to a dated version or reproducible playtest.
Links used for this guide.
Version note: The patch summary below is based on the official Steam announcement. Exact rank unlock timing, live tooltips, and save-specific behavior still belong to the current game UI.