Darkest Dungeon 2 is a roguelite. It’s hard too. Red Hook Studios has fundamentally changed the way the game is played And increased the difficulty. With those two things in mind, you might be looking for a few beginner tips to help you navigate this Cthulu-inspired world — even if you are aren‘T exactly a beginner.
With new combat mechanics and a new way of exploring the world, setting out can be harrowing, if not downright difficult. These are the best beginner tips for your first expeditions in Darkest Dungeon 2.
Beginner tips and tricks for Darkest Dungeon 2
Face Your Confession: Confessions Explained
Instead of having separate areas to explore like in the first game, Darkest Dungeon 2 is divided into five chapters known as Confessions. These are further divided into different regions:
- The valley
- The spread
- the foetor
- The lock
- The shroud
- The tangle
- The mountain
When you first start, you have four characters in your party and access to the Denial Confession. Each subsequent confession brings new lore to light and becomes more difficult. In later Confessions, you’ll see increasingly powerful and bizarre enemies that will force you to change team compositions and strategies. The bosses are not to be trifled with either.
You choose “Confessions” and choose your team once you have unlocked more characters. You then traverse the regions by choosing paths, all randomly generated from a pool, containing various rewards, traps, debuffs and more. Things always end on the mountain.
Loot the academician’s cache
When you first set out on your expedition, play the prologue tutorial through the valley. During your first expedition through the valley, you will attend a relief meeting where you can help fellow travelers. You will also get the opportunity to do so Loot the academician’s cacheand provides you with helpful items for your journey.
This is the only time these two stops appear in the valley and you will need these items for your first few expeditions.
Take advantage of inns
At the end of the valley is the first inn, and there will be more at the end of each region. Inns are great for restoring HP, relieving stress, buying items, and strengthening your party. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these are the only places where you can use inn items like books and concoctions.
Inns are also where you can equip upgrades for your stagecoach, trinkets for your party members, and battle items. Although you can perform the latter two actions while traveling, it’s always good to double-check your party’s equipment before setting off.
Ideally, spend as much of your money at inns as you rarely use it when traveling and it just takes up space in your inventory.
Collect Candles of Hope
On your journey, choose paths that fulfill the goal of a specific region, e.g. E.g. escaping the hoarder, winning three street battles and other randomly appearing challenges. In addition to these goals, also choose a route with as many Candles of Hope as possible.
These act as your upgrade currency. You will use them at the Altar of Hope (below) to unlock new items. petsand memories – or to level up your characters. Focus on collecting as many Candles of Hope as possible on your first Expeditions so that you have as many resources as possible later in the game.
Use the Altar of Hope
Once you’ve beaten the prologue, you’ll have the opportunity to use the Altar of Hope. Depending on how many Candles of Hope you’ve collected on your journey, focus on leveling up your current party characters and unlocking items. Unlocking new characters, stagecoach customization options, or pets is great, but focusing on that only puts your party at a disadvantage. Do this sparingly.
Use combat items and skills lavishly
When it comes to battles, some new mechanics come into play. Combat is still turn-based, with four positions on the left and right, with corpses as things die, including you. You can use a battle item at the beginning of your character’s turn, and use a skill afterwards. Be sure to use these opportunities.
This is ideal for the leper, for example, who may be carrying a milk-soaked linen that can cure his blindness before attacking.
If you’ve made it to a few hero shrinesMake sure you have the skills you want equipped before heading into battle. Nothing is more frustrating than using a skill and realizing you forgot to equip it.
Watch out for skill cooldowns
Some skills now have cooldowns and requirements that must be met before they can be used. The Jester’s Inspiring Tune, The Plague Doctor’s Battlefield Medicine, and more fall into this category. Once these skills are used, they can have a cooldown of one to three turns before they can be used again. In addition, some skills can only be used a certain number of times. In more difficult fights, you need to pay attention to this.
Don’t run away from battles
Don’t avoid all battles or flee from them. Your party will lack mastery, potential items, and money. It will also lower the level of loathing. Instead, take on as many battles as possible while saving some resources for the final encounter, Oblivion’s Wall. You can flee from combat encounters, but you cannot flee from street battles that take place between the stops, the Oblivion Wall, and the first battle in the hideout.
Be wary of the vile whisper
Loathing is another new mechanic Darkest Dungeon 2. As you travel through the different regions, some paths will be marked with a blue symbol and a black fire, symbolizing the tear of oblivion. Each time you travel through one of these – or to a location that has one – your Loathing Rating increases by one.
As loathing increases, your flame will deplete faster and enemies will have more advantages in battle. When Loathing reaches its maximum, your flame decreases by 10 points. Unfortunately, the Confession boss gets +10% max HP and other bonuses for your future battle on the mountain. This can stack every time you max Loathing, creating a souped-up boss that’s too difficult to defeat.
While disgust can go from a whisper to a howl, it can also be reduced. Fighting in Oblivion’s Ingress, Creature Dens, and Resistance Encounters can lower your current Loathing level until it eventually wears off. Plan your route carefully to maximize the number of candles while still hitting the region’s goal and keeping loathing low.
Increase affinity and build relationships
Imagine being stuck in a cramped stagecoach, having to fight hideous creatures to survive the apocalypse and just can’t cope. So it can be for your party.
Heroes have affinities for each other and the potential to form positive or negative relationships. Your graverobber may form an amorous relationship with the mugger, but will grow jealous of your man-at-arms. These affinities and relationships show up in the actions you take in places.
- Heroes who agree with an action taken glow gold and receive an affinity boost.
- Heroes who disagree with an action will glow blue and their affinity will decrease.
The lower the affinity, the more likely it is that a negative relationship will form, and the higher the affinity, the higher the chance of a positive relationship.
Relationships come with skills. On Positive, using the associated skill gives the other character a boost, e.g. B. a small heal or -1 stress. This can be a boon for battles where you lose a member or run out of available battle items.
However, the hard part is when you are in a negative relationship. While abilities boosted by a positive relationship can be swapped out, negative relationships can lock any ability, regardless of whether it’s equipped or not. This could increase stress or leave another party member vulnerable, but it could also lock down a skill you use regularly.
To deal with stress
The basics of Stress here are essentially the same as in Darkest Dungeon. Your group encounters spooky things, gets stressed, suffers a nervous breakdown and loses health. The biggest difference comes when they max out their stress. Now there is only Resolute or Meltdown.
- Determination heals the hero, reduces stress, and often increases affinity with other party members.
- Meltdown reduces health to just above Death Door, reduces stress, and drastically lowers group affinity.
There are trinkets, battle items, and inn items that you can use to lessen your stress during the expedition. Look out for it.
And that’s it for us Darkest Dungeon 2 Beginner’s Guide. Hopefully, These tips and tricks have helped you on your first trip. Check out the rest of our coverage on our site Darkest Dungeon 2 Travel guides page.
