I'm living on darkness so i have experience.
Deeper you go your stats starts to draining.
If you stay in an area as your house, it may drain your stats.
To counter this, you should have a lighter torch in your hands, or a fire, or the easier, up your stats.
The thing consists that if you are in some are you ''gain'' more points per second than you got drained, wich means that you can be in an area with all 20 and lose every second, or dont be so far, and dont lose nothing.
This means that further you travel to darkness look at your stats if it starts draining its good to build a small leanto there and to up you stats until them arent drained.
It doenst matter where you are at darkness, if you get less than 0.6 *(depending your stats) you instantly get k'o (without losing any skills) (efective agains poison cuz you dont lose stats from getting k'o by poison,insteed by the draining).
If you have a homested into the darkness when you respawn, you will get k'o again, and again...cuz you respawn with 0 stat.
For this you have to use your travel to boston, there, go and search for something to eat, get at least 1 point in all stats and tele again to your house.
Usefull info?