Getting Started in Darkest Dungeon (New Player Tips & Tricks)

Darkest Dungeon is a turn-based roguelike RPG where players can lead their team into dungeons filled with horrific monsters, frightening diseases, and encroaching madness. Players will be expected to recruit and manage party members, prepare for exploration, and just try to survive for as long as possible. It is a game where death doesn’t always come from an enemy blow, but can instead come from insanity and untreated illness.

With the game being as dark and grueling as it is, new players can easily be overwhelmed with all of the information they have to manage for a successful playthrough. Below will be a few pointers and considerations to keep in mind while playing.

Character Death and Recruitment in Darkest Dungeon

Darkest Dungeon is not like most party-based RPGs. Where other games encourage and expect players to become attached to party members, this game regularly kills them off. Be it by insanity or being killed in battle, it is not uncommon for party members to die in this game. So it is best that players come to terms with this inevitability.

That being said, the recruitment and management of party members is still an important aspect the player has to get used to. While each player has their own playstyle and preference for party composition, it is highly advised to have a few heroes who can fulfill a healer or survivalist role. While they may not contribute to the party’s combat strength, their respective abilities will make long-term survivability much easier since they can restore health and decrease stress gain respectively.

It is also advised to have at least one ‘back up’ character for any given role in the party. That way if a character fulfilling a party role dies or becomes burdened with stress, the player can switch them out with a reserve member while the initial character recuperates. It is easy for characters to become incapacitated or killed, so having a backup party member will come in handy.

Another word of advice to new players is not to spend too much money on new recruits. The same goes for spending a lot of money on a severely damaged party member. It’s just not worth it. Gold is a precious thing in this game and spending it all on someone who may not be with the player that much longer is just a waste of valuable currency. Do not be afraid to dismiss a hero when they become dead weight.

Understand Stress in Darkest Dungeon

One of the game’s core features is its stress mechanic. Characters gain stress when they deal with things like darkness, entering a dungeon, fights, or some other form of strain. A little stress doesn’t mean all that much, but it is when they reach 100 stress that a character will either gain an affliction or enter a state of virtue. Virtue is actually largely beneficial and will cause the affected character to gain increased stats and reduce stress gain for the rest of the party. But it cannot be emphasized enough how disastrous an affliction can be.

In addition to giving the character decreased stats, an afflicted party member can increase stress gain for the entire party, actually act on their own while in combat, and can refuse to eat or use camping skills. To say that the player loses control of the afflicted character would be an understatement. The afflicted character is now a danger to the overall survivability of the party. If left untreated, the character will reach 200 stress and suffer a heart attack, which will either put them on death’s door or kill them outright.

To prevent this, players should be sure to send their stressed party member to a stress-relieving building in the hamlet. Buildings like the tavern, gambling hall, and brothel are all meant for stress relief. But the effectiveness of this stress relief is dependent on the character’s personality and traits. So if, for example, players need to reduce stress for a devout character, it would be best to send them to the abbey as opposed to the brothel or gambling house.

If in a dungeon, be sure to kill off certain stress-inducing enemies like the Swine Retch as early as possible. Also be sure to make ample use of the camping mechanic, preferably when boosted by someone with high camping skills. Interacting with certain curios can also reduce stress. If there’s an opportunity to reduce stress, take it.

Plan Before Entering a Room or Dungeon in Darkest Dungeon

The majority of difficulty in this game doesn’t come from fights. It comes from stress levels, managing hunger, falling into traps, and so on. As such, it is imperative that players prepare thoroughly for any given expedition. After deciding on the party’s composition and equipping the appropriate trinkets, always make sure the team has enough food and other provisions to see the expedition through. The player doesn’t want to be caught in a position where they fail to feed the party.

While inside the dungeon, it is advised that the player sends someone to scout the area every once in a while. A successful scout can reveal unknown parts of the map and reveal dangerous elements that may be nearby, like enemy locations and traps. This will prove invaluable for anyone who wants to avoid unnecessary danger and stress. There is also the chance that scouting will reveal hidden rooms, which often hold valuable loot. But regardless of how successful the scouting is, the information gathered by the attempt will likely prove useful to anyone who wants to conserve resources.

Darkest Dungeonis available on PC, iOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation Vita, and Nintendo Switch

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