Kingdoms, How to Play, and You | Darkest Dungeon 2 Guide

In this video I go over the basic mechanics and difficulty settings of Kingdoms. The mode has a variety of ways you can tweak it in order to customize your experience to have the most fun while challenging yourself. Individual Kingdoms guides will come soon!
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[@riemaennchen]

Played for about an hour and Audrey somehow twisted her ankle while reading a book. Great start. Really liking this mode so far though!

[@loafofbread9400]

Sounds just like DD1

[@StevenParkinson-je6cy]

It hasn’t appeared on mine I’m in the Uk n my games up to date with updates but no option to play :(

[@skyguy713]

Those darn calisthenic books never have pictures to show you how to do it right

[@Qobp]

Her reading posture much be truly eldritch

[@blackomega34]

Mad Lad asked which video to do first and he made both at once.

[@jessesurprenant1981]

And then a solid 8 hour livestream. Pretty sure I saw you in the YT chat at some point, but yeah, Shuff has been a busy man today for sure.

[@ShuffleFM]

I'm recovering by reading all the comments

[@jessesurprenant1981]

@@ShuffleFMvery nice, you’re the best! Thank you again for the massive content drop on this amazing new mode. It was so awesome to catch that live stream on my day off ahead of my work week.

[@LucyTheBox]

I haven't been keeping up with Darkest Dungeon at all. So it was a bit of a surprise when I saw such a seemingly tailor-made for me video appear in my subscribtion tab. Only 1 minute in, and I'm already aching to boot up DD2 again, you really have a way with words.

[@RainyBoops]

My man out here dropping guides like a bad day on Everest

[@davidtippy7976]

+2

[@Avabees]

Man.

[@h2olemon547]

Based

[@wellingtonsh1]

Things I would like to be added to Kindoms in the second update. - Largest Randomization in the Kingdom. - More missions, I think it shouldn't be that difficult to program more than one set of cryptic missions for the same boss, and then randomize them. - Being able to choose two (and in the future) or more enemies, one of them is randomly drawn for Boss and Mission and the other(s) can appear in sieges. - A Safe, so stagecoach heroes can pay to leave items and trinkets for traveling heroes who arrive at the safe inn. - In Custom Mode increase the maximum from 13 to 16 heroes. - The Stagecoach has a flame protector that puts you in the Black Flame and can be put on or taken off at the Inns. The version of this game to put out the Flame.

[@SynthLove]

Definitely took a second to learn the mechanics. Fatigue bugged me till I learned a lot of items have new effects.

[@jankleiss2485]

I really enjoy this style of gameplay commentary, where you explain how good the stuff you're getting is and why. Always super helpful for starting to learn a new mode

[@jaredpmoser]

Shuffle, haven't seen you in a while you are a breath of fresh air. Stay good buddy. Just coming back to check out Kingdoms. Thanks for the vids and keep up the good work.

[@aureliodeprimus8018]

I would argue that the way the map is arranged mostly makes geographical sense. The Shrouds are coastal, so of course they are bundled up in one area and The Tundras are in a mountain range. The one thing that i would change is making The Sprawls be further away from each other, unless it means to imply that The Sprawls are all districts of one capital city.

[@Brntnugget]

On day 5 and I’m really enjoying this, got a good start and was able to find and beat a dreaming general ( which makes me wonder if he’ll respawn again at some point). Something I wish you could do is to leave items at each location for your wandering hero’s to interact with. For example, if I left a trinket and some relics at an inn, a hero could come over and pick some of it up.

[@Tufticles]

Yeah I really wish there was a storage box system for the inns. Often times I'd find trinkets that would be really good for specific heroes that aren't in my party and I'd run out of space on my coach because of it. It would make sense and help reduce the tedium of setting up heroes not in your party.

[@Kirisapostle12]

God this mode is so good, i have only completed one map but everything, all the mechanics works so well together. Only wish is the randomise the nodes more, it seems like the same type of encounters keep showing up in one region

[@dunkeycrunk3026]

So excited to get home and and play, heres to another 100 hrs in the game😂🎉

[@waywardsonofthenight228]

11:21 You’re discounting the wagon repair stagecoach items, they’re great for having to stop at camps. That means they activate when you don’t have the option to repair anyways.

[@FU6713]

I can’t get my head around this game I thought kingdoms would be easier than the confessions but it’s actually so much harder

[@ShuffleFM]

Nah it's way harder

[@clissice]

Thank you for all that you're doing Shuffle, keep up the good work.

[@spencershephard624]

As an XCOM fan, this mode definitely scratches an itch that hasn't been getting scratched for a while.

[@therion451]

One reason why I like Darkest 1 is because it reminds me of XCOM

[@alexanders725]

Brooo I’ve kept up with your dd vids for years now I appreciate the news I’m excited to try kingdoms!

[@justin-cl8mt]

i have found out their crit rate, it is 100% given that they are hitting someone squishy and 0% when you actually manage to guard said squishy

[@BenchongDy]

Thank you Shuff!

[@onova-ytb]

i can't believe that crimson court it's actually back! its my favourite dlc and also sountrack.

[@vilookingknightjack7909]

Was very hyped for the kingdom gamemode as i'm not a big fan of escalation and so far it's been a blast !

[@jiggs8073]

I am excited to play this fun game. I will have a lot of fun very soon. That is awesome.

[@renatoafonsomaiacarneiro950]

Dang, this is one creative game mode!

[@Bronko_]

Hi, do you have a guide about which skills are important to mastery early in a run? Thanks for all your great content.

[@unforeseenboy420]

Do you need to unlock inn, combat, and/or stagecoach items in the Confessions mode before they will appear in Kingdoms?

[@tclfan0180]

I’m assuming you can’t use abom in kingdoms unless u buy the dlc

[@IllD.]

You need to unlock ALL hero shrines of Abom before you can use him.

[@ShuffleFM]

Items and such are usable without Confessions.

[@TheSilvercue]

@@IllD.no you do not. You can play him immediately, just with limited move set.

[@Epost86]

​@@TheSilvercue Not in Kingdoms. He's locked until you do all shrines.

[@Tufticles]

I've had to restart my campaign over 7 times now because my heroes keep dying within the first 2 weeks to random bullshit. The restrictions you have with masteries and fatigue are also brutal and you get piddling scraps when it comes to currency. It's so hard to get a foothold at the start.

[@PhantomFiend]

I wonder how modders will backport this mode into DD1? They’ll probably add more anime girls to it. Lmao

[@tmo6849]

Can you make a tier list with the new enemies introduced?

[@erikbaumann9102]

20:03 I really hope they randomize the regions; I can't imagine it would be that much work, but I can't program anything, so what do I know? A new start would just feel way more fresh that way.

[@ShuffleFM]

Agreed

[@josephrobinson1658]

Welp there goes my 2025

[@zentryx32]

nice video explaining the new game mode, also mi first language is spanish and because we pronounce names diferent i never noticed that barristan sounds a little like bernstein

[@FIVEBASKET]

The update just dropped bro holy shit

[@INasseIR]

How long does it take to complete a whole run? I’m assuming on average it will be longer than a confession?

[@ShuffleFM]

12-30 hours. Easier to pick up and put down compared to confessions.

[@mrb5zx]

thanks for the guide. how long is a playthrough?

[@ShuffleFM]

About 30 hours if you don't know what to do.

[@petardragicevic1612]

Is there side bosses like colector or a warlord or death even ?

[@ivraDiaNCE]

Chirurgeon is there, I don’t know about the others but I would assume they can appear as well since Chi is in the gamemode

[@SynthLove]

Just fought death.

[@ShuffleFM]

They're all there.

[@petardragicevic1612]

@@ShuffleFM thank you

[@MrVictor1227]

What is the reward for doing the Quest you talked about?

[@ShuffleFM]

You win

[@danielshamlian2800]

Looks like an insanely investible game mode

[@jonathanrussell6525]

You said that Abom doesn't stress the party out as much as in the first game, but doesn't he do more in this game? In the first game he did 8 out of 100 on transform and healed 2 out of 100 when turning back, in this game he does 1.33 out of 10 on average and 1 out of 10 mastered, which is 13 or 10 by first game standards as it were. Compared to a net 6 in the first game (it could be more if you had +stress debuffs like low torch but even then usually only like net 8 unless you're going like torchless)

[@Ratt611]

had no idea this was coming :)

[@TheAlwaysPrepared]

Thanks for the premium content!

[@KeithCooks]

Does underground travel let you go to any of the other underground travel nodes? Or only the other one on the same line as it?

[@ShuffleFM]

You can go to any of them

[@Loreenatv]

Can someone give me a hint on how to figure out the quest? I'm so confused I tried going to the top most inn since that seemed the most logical but nothing happened. I'm thinking maybe it has something to do with the mountain area (?) But it's 3:30 am and I should really go to sleep :D

[@ShuffleFM]

What step is it? If it's the spyglass you need a watch tower.

[@Loreenatv]

@ShuffleFM oh right the first step.. there's no way I haven't visited a watchtower yet I'm on day 12 I'm such an idiot . I was thinking what do I need a watchtower for when the regions are only 3 nodes long 🥲

[@eliholland1365]

Aye yo today is gonna be hype!!!! Time to eat Big Shuff

[@adriansomogyi1317]

Hey Shuff, how did you unlock the black horses and the stage coach skin

[@ShuffleFM]

You have to complete the infernal vitrine

[@heronvitor6886]

How long does It take to beat a kingdom quest? How long It is?

[@ShuffleFM]

12-30 hours depending on knowledge, efficiency etc.

[@vidco37]

Does memories and lock quirks from confession carry over to kingdoms?

[@ShuffleFM]

Nope

[@superspencebros832]

Funny how we made the same exact team

[@Windbend3r]

When does this come to console?

[@fear_dis5151]

So does console have to wait?

[@ShuffleFM]

Sadly yes. We can ask next week on the dev stream

[@fear_dis5151]

@ShuffleFM man 😔

[@Porstile]

Good Job!

[@TheGunslinger44]

I wish you could select who your backup heroes are because I have 0 interest in using Deulist, Flagellant, or Runaway

[@CarbonKnight9]

Dang, you don't want to use flagellant? He's currently just about the best hero in the game after man at arms got nerfed a bit, and he's pretty fun imo

[@TheGunslinger44]

@CarbonKnight9 That's why I don't play him. He's just the game on easy mode and I don't really enjoy his moveset. He really only has two attacks and that's Punish and Acid Rain. I love flagellants and their lore, but he just doesn't fit into my play style. But I think I ain't the only one who just doesn't ever use Duelist or Runaway, especially after I got all the necessary trophies with those two.

[@Dukemon94]

I thought that too, that it was OP, then his Exclusive Miniboss Death showed up and wiped my full party... so yeah, hes strong af but he has this drowback which can ruins your run if it spawns at the wrong time

[@TheGunslinger44]

@@Dukemon94 Funnily enough, no sooner than I said that and gave Flagellant a try, I found Death at the very first roadblock. Not even a Resistance Encounter. Yeah she wiped out the entire squad, including my Abomination I was trying to grab all the memories to complete that one achievement

[@CarbonKnight9]

@@TheGunslinger44fair enough, I can see that. Flagellant is maybe a little too strong in kingdoms now that I've messed around with it since wanderer is still a really good path for him, he only needs like 2 extra skills (more more and sepsis imo) and he barely needs mastery to be great, so yeah he's just insane in kingdoms and I can see why you wouldn't want to use him for that reason lol

[@sweetlikedonuts8581]

27:48 how do you get that skin?

[@ShuffleFM]

Complete the infernal vitrine

[@tryharder3214]

I gave few tries and miserably failed: bosses are insane, takes long time to lvl up skills + open new ones. I'm not even trying to open paths... I'll give it another try another day. But suffering is real.

[@ShuffleFM]

It's a lot to take in. You'll get it! :)

[@CarlosHernandez-hp4lm]

Do you really need to unlock Abomination in Confessions mode??? That's a bummer. We all want to play Kingdoms, it should be unlockable in there too

[@TheSilvercue]

He is available straight away in Kingdoms. But has only 2 moves, you have to unlock the rest in Confessions which is a chore. They should have added Shrines to Kingdom.

[@shodahollow4021]

Hey bro, cool video!

[@jackplisken4738]

DLC came out on Juneuary

[@insanecosmonaut4000]

I need the guide I'm getting whooped out here

[@DudeFromUA]

Only one thing I don't like, a not so much new narrator's quotes...but it's almost a new game

[@cwp24]

Okay I like this better than DD1, but I don’t know if I’ll have the patience to play this mode. At least it’s not exactly like DD1, that was my main concern as I really don’t like how it takes to even beat the game whereas this seems far more reasonable and respects your time more than DD1. I’ll try it whenever it comes out on ps5.

[@WinniePing-f8z]

I say it every time, " I miss DD1"

[@hihosilver1234]

That game still exists. I prefer DD2 hands down myself

[@hyperionsidartha5891]

POG!

[@SunnyMuffinsRox]

my characters die and i quit

[@prestonius2055]

how

[@natej84]

The first game was sooo much better. The map exploration was better, the town building was great. Super disappointed when DD2 came out, hopefully this new mode makes me like this game

[@ShuffleFM]

First half of the comment had me going "here we go again". Twist ending :O

[@Kirisapostle12]

If this is the attitude you are going in with, it probably won't

[@natej84]

@@Kirisapostle12 only expectations I had going in was I loved DD1. My favorite part was building the town and roster up. So that's why I didn't like 2 as much bc my favorite parts were gone

[@GordKeen]

Console players place an F here....F

[@SantaSane]

How do we unlock other skills ?

[@micdy7104]

you need to upgrade barrack then use mastery to unlock a skill the same way you upgrade skill

[@ShuffleFM]

Upgrade the mastery trainer. Don't need the barracks upgrade

[@don945646]

When us console folks getting this?

[@kalecraft8906]

Ask the last 500 people who ask this question on every social media outlet that mentions this game mode

[@brandotonsing1452]

What kind of game is this? Is it even a game? Soo boring

[@ShuffleFM]

Thanks for the algorithm comment :)

[@swardinc]

still just looks not fun? Maybe i am missing something? Also what is there fascination with the carriage?

[@Matthewjs33]

I hate the stagecoach so much. It's awful.

[@ShuffleFM]

They wanted the game to be a journey across the land. Hard to do that on foot :P

[@kalecraft8906]

This feels like such a petty thing to be hung up about

[@IllD.]

People are still complaining about this? I honestly don't get why people would rather press d and w over and over again.

[@DoctorManhattann]

Yea I dont get it. I've seen like 3 people trying to explain this new mode and I don't see the appeal at all from the original game. This doesn't bring anything new or different. You're just going around in squares instead of straight.