Darkest Dungeon 2: New Player Mistakes To Avoid

Darkest Dungeon 2 is a challenging and overwhelming game, there’s no doubt about that. It can be pretty confusing as well, leading to new player mistakes.

Of course, the game’s trial-and-error nature expects you to make these mistakes, hoping that you will learn from them and overcome them.

In this guide, we’ll go over some of the common mistakes new players make and how to avoid them. This also works for veterans of the previous game who are thrown off by changes made to the sequel!

New Player Mistakes To Avoid in Darkest Dungeon 2

Don’t Ignore Combat Items

This is probably one of the most obvious new player mistakes you can make, even if you played the first game.

Combat Items are a new equippable resource that wasn’t in the previous game, so it’s not surprising that newbies and veterans alike ignore them.

The thing is, these items don’t use up your character’s turn when used. This can make them a complete game-changer during some of the toughest encounters.

Remember, however, that you must first equip these items on a character to be able to use them. Also, try to match the items with the character’s role in combat.

Prepare for the Dangers Ahead

Preparation is essential, especially when braving the horrors you encounter in this game!

One crucial aspect of this is to have a team that can actually do well in the area you’re heading into. For example, having a Bleed-focused hero in an area full of Bleed-resistant enemies is not gonna go well.

This goes along with the first point, as well. Make sure you have Combat Items that will help you face the threats specific to the region, such as Antivenom in areas with lots of Blight.

Don’t bring too many items with you, though, try to keep some inventory space for the various things you pick up during your travels.

Also be careful when picking your route, trying to avoid taking unnecessary risks. You will also want to try to avoid Loathing nodes, which are shown as blue icons with a derelict building.

Loathing is a new dynamic difficulty mechanic in Darkest Dungeon 2. Pass through Loathing nodes and your Loathing will increase, making battles harder and your torch drain quicker.

Once you max out the Loathing bar, your heroes will be affected by a variety of debuffs and the confessional boss will be stronger. Make sure to steer clear of these nodes when you’re not ready!

Be Aggressive

A popular strategy in the first game was to stall combat. You would leave a weak enemy alive and use your turns to heal your party, lowering stress as well.

This was eventually nerfed with patches, making it less viable, and the sequel follows suit by making this an undesirable strategy.

Instead, you will want to focus on being as aggressive as possible. Try to end combat as quickly as possible, since enemies might become stronger as the turns pass!

Enemies in this game are geared toward winning longer encounters, so don’t give them a chance and end their lives swiftly. This is by far the best way to keep your own team alive.

Your heroes will naturally heal while traveling the roads, further reducing the need to stall for healing.

Don’t Forget to Analyze Enemies

You can analyze your enemies in combat by clicking on them while holding the Alt key. This will bring up a detailed screen, showing their skills and status.

This is extremely important since it lets you see which skills enemies can use at any given moment! You can even see which rows they can use it from, and which rows they can affect.

Make good use of this information to plan ahead, as it lets you somewhat predict what enemies will do. As we said before, preparation is key!

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