DARKEST DUNGEON 2 | 13 Essential Tips Before you Start (Beginner's Guide)

[@PartyElite]

Darkest Dungeon 2 is.... completely different! Looking forward to really sinking my teeth further into this one - been waiting for it for so long. Let me know if you'd be interested in some DD2 action on the channel - I've got some plans!

[@KurtKatze4fk]

Hey PE! Thank you for the tips Video. I just got DD2 and thanks to your tips i managed to "win" my first 2 runs. The one thing i would add is this: It is not important to take fights in order to power up. You get enough trinkets etc. even if you are careful and avoid fights unless you need to bring down loathing. As of the earliest access, the cowards way seems to be the way to go!

[@straypaper]

What I like about DDII is the linear progression. As you complete (read: fail) runs your power level increases linearly. You're *encouraged* to try and fail as spectacularly as possible so you can start another run. In DDI you're *punished* for trying. Past a certain point in the game, the punishment for getting a wipe eclipses the reward for completing the run. This reduces mid-game dungeon runs to skinny-dipping until you eke out a smidge of margin from loot. The reward for possibly completing an expedition is barely worth the risk of losing your Level 6 party. Even if you successfully retreat the last level 6 hero while they drag out the rare trinkets of their fallen comrades, it's still a very devastating loss. And it's not like you can infinitely grind out level 6 heroes or make a suicide squad to grind out rare trinkets either. The dungeons get harder as you run them and soon you won't have easy place to grind out a fresh new squad anymore. It's horrible, and not just "despair is a part of the game's experience". Like yeah I want to feel a bit of pressure but the game straight out *prevented* me from completing it. I don't want to make a party with the Jester and Vestal just to break the game. Why does a roguelike customizable RPG game only has one possible solution? That beats the whole point of customizable and roguelike. Every run should be unique, and every unique run must have the same chance of succeeding. That is good balance.

[@wizarddaddy47]

Agreed, there seems to be a stellar lack of player choice and long-term strategy inherent with the relationship system. Take for instance the fact that I can't destress my characters with pipeweed if their relationship isn't sound... Uhm... ok? How about boxing? Oh can't do that either because one of them is lazy... Oh heading to the warrens? Sorry all we have is slime mold. Can only destress or heal or give hope during combat; but what if combat isn't seen for many leagues? I haven't had a chance to assist in 4 whole stops and this run is bunk because I really need that +500 hope goal. They've put way too much emphasis on grinding through several failures before you can even begin to progress; but the gains just don't seem linear. There usually seems like there is only 1 party rotation that ends up being the most efficient solution. And don't get me started on the RNG jesus christ; enemies have 15 blight resist? Good luck with that pal. Oh what's that? This is your third run? Here have 33% max health enemies with 25% extra damage; oh and you hit for peanuts. I like that it's linear, but there needs to be difficulty modifiers as you progress or something, or at least give me more goddamn mastery points cause I'm putting them all in my main damage dealers because if I don't the fights last 7+ rounds... OH yeah and I don't get anything if I can't kill them before the 6th round. *facepalm*

[@straypaper]

@@wizarddaddy47 You just don't know how to play. If you don't want bad relationship, then top up their health and stress ALWAYS. Stress must always be zero and you have plenty of AoE stress heal methods even if you don't want to bring Jester or Plague. If you only have slime molds then don't go to the Warren. Route choice is a thing. Don't be dumb and take an unnecessary risk just for a side mission. If your DPS can't kill in 6 turns then upgrade the offensive skills of other characters. DoT is very powerful as it bypass damage reduction tokens. All 4 of your character must be able to contribute to damage. Take out the backline first or drag them up front to disturb their combo. If a melee enemy crits you too much then push them back so they can't attack. Use your brain. Don't be dumb.

[@wizarddaddy47]

@@straypaper Don't call me dumb asshole for not being able to play the game perfectly.

[@_natalie]

Dungeon this look tempting, but alas, I dark think I have the time to play it myself. Still, good to see that it is different than the original and still holding true to its unforgiving reputation. Also that the narrator is still the same!

[@SwashBuccaneer]

Can't wait to dive in!

[@PartyElite]

Aw man I thought that 'drive' typo was intentional =P

[@SwashBuccaneer]

@@PartyElite Subliminal while watching the stage coach! I was going to leave it lol

[@MrAliquam]

From what I've gathered through my short experience so far: the biggest impact on relationship that you can more or less do something about is stress. It isn't a solid "fill me until the meltdown" meter anymore and what I found, from the 4/10 stress, when the level changes from Tense to Irritable - is when the characters starts ruining relationships with everyone. Which is infuriating, because you don't get a lot of chances to calm your characters. Looks like you are really stuck to man-at-arms and plague doctor because of those stress healing skills and I feel this to be a disappointment. You can open a Jester, yes. But he has an annoying condition for the Inspiring Tune - stress must be at least 5. And I repeat - you start ruining everything at 4. But you heal for 2, then 3 when upgraded. Which becomes a pain to manage. Outside of Leper, though. As always - Leper just doesn't care, he will be the calmest thug in your party, the self-sufficient prick. He is underwhelming though. And frustrating. His blindness mechanics are a lot harder to work around then his low ACC in the first game. On the other hand - he doesn't have as high damage he used to. You can't nuke your enemies with one swings anymore. One-level upgrades make sure you don't stack a lot of damage. Token system prevents you from stacking all those 50% damage bonuses to high heaven. His Crit is capped at 5%, outside of getting a 100% Crit token. And even you do get a Crit token, you might spawn a Blind token by random chance as well, which gives you 50/50 on landing a hit. You can get rid of it by using a Reflection skill. But that's exactly the point - Leper is so slow in this game it's not even funny. You can spend 2 rounds preparing for a hit (Revenge + Reflection) only find yourself not needing the big anymore. Or it will roll a 14, for example which is fuckall for this game considering death's door for enemies exist. I don't know, I might just be not used to his "rework" here, but so far he seems pretty weak.

[@MrAliquam]

@PartyElite That's probably the first time a channel owner liked my message. Interesting. By the way, found out something, but you probably already know about it: Ruin, especially upgraded, allows you to bypass the problem with low damage, so you can potentially become a damage monster we all know and love from the first game. His blindness can still go pluck out its eyes though >:(

[@lemonzealdao6360]

They really need to fix the jester. The stress heal is terrible compared to Man-at-arms upgraded bolster. The fact jester only heals one person with the same stress over 5 threshold makes it so easy to toss to the side for things like encore or finale.

[@MrAliquam]

@@lemonzealdao6360 Oh yes, I've made a mistake, stress needs to be over 5, which is even worse and doesn't solve anything. I have faith that everything will get fixed. First game got a lot of major skill reworks before it got to how it is today.

[@vidholf]

Yes, please! For more DD2 content!

[@PartyElite]

You got it!

[@lukahprimo]

I was always intimidated by the fame of the first one, being to difficult and all, but as soon as i picked up this one i was in for a ride, its an amazing game go play it, and party as always thank you.

[@ChristopherZAR]

DD1 was already amazing, this looks like truly a dream come true! Just wondering whether to wait till after it comes out of early access, so I can get the full experience

[@PartyElite]

DD1 in early access was so different from the final build, at least as I remember it, so I quite enjoyed playing it's iterations. One of a handful of games where I thought early access was well executed!

[@ChristopherZAR]

@@PartyElite Fair enough! Thanks for the answer :) although for me actually this means I will wait, because I know I have a fairly limited attention span when it comes to games and I'd rather spend it all on the final version then!

[@vesperflute9030]

Amazing video, it's already helping a lot.

[@w1nger1]

I'm pleasantly surprised to see you covering DD2, more please.👍

[@terminaro]

Party is a fellow man of culture x)

[@Alistair_7609]

moment of silence for Reynauld...

[@sattm8230]

Epic giving consumers choice, as usual.

[@nyanko2077]

The map system looks a lot like Rogue Lords, with some tweaking more appropriate to DD.

[@PartyElite]

Haven't tried Rogue Lords! Might need to give it a gander!

[@idinazimi]

awesome thank you

[@terminaro]

I did some runs and did not get the loathing mechanic. Thanks mate!

[@meatbagspaai6370]

TBH I find that characters having meltdowns is often times preferable to having high stress. Yeah it sucks to have a burst loss of affinity and health, but it beats them bitching and whining every two steps until everybody fucking hates eachother and can't work together.

[@straypaper]

When it's on something like 7 or more yeah it's preferable that they have a meltdown and get done with it. Having high stress can turn even beneficial relationships dangerous. Unseparable characters can refuse to move when you need them to, Amorous characters may block certain skills from being used on other characters because they're jealous, Hopeful character can drive up the stress of the other Hopeful character along with them. But below 5 I always try to actively keep them down. Above 7 is too much effort to keep down.

[@bearfangmedia]

Nice video

[@barkerm9]

They seem to have gotten rid of all the religious heroes. I was absolutely obsessed with the first game and I’m very disappointed at the reduced number of character classes.

[@matchboxboom]

Only reduced in early access hopefully everyone should be there in full release

[@Cataphract1236]

It’s in early access.

[@Artemis19811]

I think the choice was to help balance the game. It will be cool to see how far they take this game. The one thing I’d like to see is the ability to trade items instead of throwing them away.

[@justinthompson6364]

Looks like more of a classic roguelike experience, interesting. Any chance of an LP?

[@PartyElite]

Very much so! And I have plans for some runs on the channel for sure!

[@hasikon]

ill be honest they changed it so far away from the original It feels like a quick play spin off or mobile game, nothing feels like it matters in the longer run

[@MatejSunavec]

13:00 I never had an issue turning to the right path. I have troubles hitting debris on the road though but it's not life and death situation. I was barely using any of the HP given to me an made it to the mountain.

[@koffinkat666]

Hey PE, Ummmm Why is it not on Steam? Please tell me it isn't an exclusive somewhere?

[@herrschneider5310]

epic, sadly. the early access at least

[@PartyElite]

It's doing early access on EGS for a year before releasing across the board iirc.

[@koffinkat666]

@@PartyElite NO! But at least it will be 1.0 when it releases I assume? I hate exclusives for anything lol.

[@bluerationality]

Does it still require grind I wonder. I did enjoy the first game for a while, but grinding to level heroes and get items was a bit too much.

[@PartyElite]

The grind, as it were, is likely very different here - haven't played enough yet to feel it myself, but with the whole roguelike approach, it's completely different from the first game.

[@scrivster]

There is definitely a grind. You rely on a certain type of area on each map to level up your heroes. Each encounter can be failed too. Each hero has several skills that can be unlocked. I would say this is more grindy than DD1

[@prowokator]

Cant wait to get my greasy fingers on this!

[@croviktorija]

for some reason i can't accept the "rewards" from encounters lmao. clicking doesn't work, enter doesn't work...wtf?

[@Graavigala85]

the fact that your mastery resets after each run is quite annoying

[@risa123456789]

Tip #1: wait until release. Not sure if devs setting all hit chances to 100% is genius or EVIL. And that relationship mechanic REALLY needs tweaking. That being said, I have to say I am SERIOUSLY disappointed that there's no base upgrading and steady progression, instead we got another roguelike. No multiclassing either AFAIK. Feels like we're getting more and less at the same time

[@wizarddaddy47]

The affliction was bad enough in DD1, now I have to deal with all three of these fuckers absolutely hating each other. Half the combat is just scornful dialogue lol.

[@TH-qh6jz]

do you have a creator code for EGS?

[@PartyElite]

I do not, no! Thanks for asking!

[@YM-zf8mt]

i think i prefer the first one it's a shame the relationship system isn't present in the first tho

[@snusxtrastark1648]

hotkey G

[@negx3933]

Imagine if they have Abomination class in the final build of the game

[@jb395]

The RNG in this game hates me. I haven’t made it past the first area after 3 runs.

[@scrivster]

perhaps that's not just RNG then? Stick at it - my big tip is to take on the cultists and encounters when you can - they remove resentment and add to torchlight. The fights are longer so be tactical and take your time; it's much harder to wipe out threats in one turn like DD1. Manage stress with bolster and medicine. Hope you get more luck!

[@wickeddrac7489]

It is way over tuned, just like torchless runs in DD1.. They need to do a lot of work to get this up to par, rng is horrible right now

[@straypaper]

@@wickeddrac7489 I don't think it's overtuned. In fact it's undertuned compared to DD1. In DD1 just one stray crit can undo turns of healing and drive your stress way up, giving your heroes debilitating traits and getting you closer to heart attack. In DD2 you can take a crit no problem and slowly heal yourself back up (crits don't cause stress anymore), or maybe even just survive the battle and let your health heal back up on the road. DD2 is definitely way less RNG reliant. For instance encounters are not chance based anymore (like the stack of books bullshit in DD1) and what you see is what you get and there's no such thing as traps anymore.

[@wickeddrac7489]

@@straypaper WTH are you talking about? You just proved my point that dd2 is overtuned and harder.. DD1 you could build up a team, you can build up a town and offset RNG all together, upgraded gear, skills and get rid of bad traits.. You could end a bad run and still come out with something to show for it.. DD2 is a slay the spire clone with just unlocking content mechanic attacked to your profile instead of actually building up a base or a crew.. The main objective is knowing how to stun lock and offset stress and health by not allowing it with the right skills. You could build a team for a zone unlike DD2 where if you have the runaway and then take the burn city you screw yourself.. Mobs hit you for avg 10-15 compared to your fresh crew that hits non-crit for avg 5-10 and 10 being good... DD1 and DD2 are apples and oranges and wholly separate games and they ran off the success of DD1 to sell DD2 early copies and gave people a different game, this will be no where near the cult fanbase as the first one, mark it here and calling it now.

[@straypaper]

@@wickeddrac7489 "You could end a bad run and still come out with something to show for it.." No you can't what drugs are you on? it's either flawless run or you spend more money than you earned to get rid of bad traits and heal up stress and HP. And it's all on the mercy of RNG and *YOU CAN'T OFFSET IT.* You have a perfect flawless run and your Vestal got critted *ONCE* and now she's stressed and gain the trait that prevents her from healing? Well tough luck, you're fucked. Then you're forced to choose if you want to push on with a healer that can't heal, or turn around to the exit and come up with a deficit. At least in DD2 your party actually survives one crit. And I can even count on one hand how many crits I've taken in my 3 runs. And besides who cares about the enemy hitting for 15? As long as you can survive the battle your party is going to heal back up as you walk anyway. You have a Runaway? Then how about not fucking picking burn city? It's not like you're forced to one route unless you're a moron that the route reward is more important than actually surviving the route itself (which I think you are a moron). More importantly your characters have 80% ish Death Door resistance in DD2. Your Hellion can just not die at 0 HP for 5 turns. Mine did. Everything is in your control in DD2. DD1 was shit RNG fest without the overpowered mod classes.

[@knotsable]

Is it just me, or is that coach a pain to control?

[@WiseG33k]

It's a shame about the Epic exclusivity. I hope the full release version will be made available on Steam.

[@PartyElite]

I believe the plan is to do a 1.0 release on Steam in a year, yeah. Need to double check if the plan has since changed!

[@sattm8230]

Hey now, Epic is giving consumers choice! Right? ...right?

[@WiseG33k]

@@sattm8230 I think you meant it gives *developers* a choice :p

[@NonisLuck]

Cool 😊

[@bayikutu]

the whole new mechanism in DD2 is way too different than the first DD. really unfriendly even to the veteran DD player. it took the fun away from the original DD.

[@Mervy79]

delete save games from c:\users\username\appdata\locallow\ to delete or reset profile

[@Slyslug]

dd2 made me understand they got lucky making the first one and the only thing the Devs actually know is aesthetic. so far atleast, it is early access.

[@bcrx5780]

DD2 is so amazing so far, but I reaaaaaally need to be reminding myself that it is early access, because fuck sake it does need some balancing. It is utterly unforgiving. A little bit too much at the moment perhaps.

[@ralphmalph5191]

Couldn't you have just purchased it on Steam? If it wasn't good enough to spend your own money on, why should I?

[@sgarrinda6948]

u kinda are being a fool friend, the game wont be out on steam untill it comes out of early access, so he couldnt have bought it even if epic games hadnt literally given him a copy of the game to cover and show to his audience. smh

[@matthewhoward7757]

Feel like you need to disclaim that this is considerably out of date information now, despite not being that old a video. (Don't even mention the Cultist ambush at 0 flame e.g.)

[@getfizzical2946]

so in darkest dungeon 2 it doesnt matter what so ever if your run is over, unlike DD 1 if you lose youre entire crew you're screwed and have to start all over again

[@darkstryder401]

Made it to the Mountain on the first run.... Last fight seems hopeless, we fought hard though.

[@ralegar1]

ive failed this one three times, so annoying

[@srbPasulj93]

noice

[@vg4917]

mookiest of mooks lool

[@kdeas10]

Love the video but you sound like ben Shapiro and I fucking love it

[@kaporal890]

Video aged poorly

[@SFCgunny]

Nope, not even one bit, not even mildly interested

[@PartyElite]

Not a fan of the changes or the game on its own? Just curious - I like knowing where peoples' opinions come from!

[@SFCgunny]

@@PartyElite The game itself. Not a fan as I don't enjoy that type of gameplay, so it'll be a hard pass for me on watching any of those videos.

[@gongal]

@@SFCgunny Get help

[@SFCgunny]

@@gongal What's your problem?

[@gongal]

@@SFCgunny Just hoping for you to get in better mental state soon. No problem whatsoever.

[@stevens9625]

I detest games that makes your current run a padding for future runs.

[@jb395]

That’s kinda half the point of roguelikes lol

[@stevens9625]

@@jb395 Not exactly. Most roguelikes don't use a legacy system. When I see a game with a prominent legacy system, it implies the balance will be all over the place and no matter how careful you are, you are destined to fail because each run is not designed to be cleared but to grind buffs for the next game and repeat.

[@losttoothbrush]

@@stevens9625 A streamer cleared the mountain in his first 4 hour run. And im also really close to beating it on my 3rd. I think the balancing is pretty good, the game offers a lot of new choices and heroes by leveling up, but it doesnt make the game trivial pr easy

[@DoctorStrange01]

@@stevens9625 Meanwhile in DD1, you could grind your party for many hours and make a perfect one just to lose it and the whole progress by dying somewhere in the dungeon. DD2's system is a lot better and what you see as a negative, many people see as something good. I at first was frustrated by the fact that this is the gameplay loop, but after a few runs, it made it interesting to try and maximize your performance and trying new things to go further, while unlocking more and more stuff. Many roguelikes actually work this way, another example is "Curse of the Dead Gods", which i also found a great and fun game.