The Darkest Dungeon 2 Redemption Road Update focuses on the stagecoach and travel mechanics, among a host of other new features coming to the RPG in the experimental version. Developer Red Hook Studios has provided a detailed update on what fans can expect ahead of the game’s 1.0 release on May 8th, 2023. This includes pets, route types, stagecoach tokens, and other minor tweaks.
have pets nearly was a thing in Darkest Dungeon 2 for some time. Her slit and cage could be seen in the Wagner sections of inns that were not available at all. Until now. Each pet grants different buffs to your party, and there are a total of 10 pets to unlock.
- Orphaned wolf cub
- Pygmy Pliskin
- Unnatural Owl
- Resuscitated Rabbit
- Slimy slime
- screaming chick
- Larva scavenger
- Young crocodile
- Crimson Tick
- Shambler’s Spawn
Pets can be purchased at the inn from the provider, who has up to three to choose from.
Red Hook listened to the feedback and created four route types that you may encounter while traveling.
- secure: Nothing happens
- Battle: This is the same as current street battles, except that there are no turn limits anymore
- difficult phase: On rough terrain, one of your wheel tokens is taken away from you
- Danger: A trap that steals one armor token, depending on the region
- oblivion tear: Increases loathing by 1 when you pass through. This also applies to targets that have the Oblivion Tear token above them
Image via Red Hook Studios
The Stagecoach now has two markers, Wheel and Armor, which are displayed in the top left corner while driving. When fully full, the wheel token will give you a speed buff and the armor token will give you the block buff.
In order to repair these marks, you’ll need to spend orbs at the Wagner or hope for a help encounter to provide the service.
Certain routes will now corrupt these tokens. If a token is completely empty and you go through an area that further decreases it, you will be thrown into battle. During these battles, a party member is randomly assigned the repair token, forcing them to make repairs that turn. During each round, someone is assigned the repair token.
The Redemption Road update includes other changes designed to improve gameplay. These include:
- Moving the altar of hope before choosing the confessions.
- Recurring times through the valley result in an abbreviated version with no hoarder or helper encounter.
- Denial only has two biomes to travel through and no longer requires a cave boss trophy.
- Loathing has been reworked.
- The time between nodes in regions is shorter.
The full Redemption Road update patch notes can be found here Red Hook’s contribution to the update. Although this is the last update until the 1.0 launch of the game, the team is always working on balance Darkest Dungeon 2. This includes optimizing the game and fine-tuning the user interfaces. It has also been hinted that another playable character will be included in the 1.0 release, and while there are no current PvP plans, the team would consider it.
Featured image via Red Hook Studios.
